Synthesis and electrochemical properties of PANI–TiC nanocomposite and its electrocatalytic behavior

A novel nanocomposite (PANI–TiC) prepared from polyaniline (PANI) and titanium carbide (TiC) was synthesized through an in situ chemical oxidative polymerization method. Detected by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectra, morphologies and compositions of the nanocomposite were characterized. Experimental results of cyclic voltammetry (CV) indicated that PANI–TiC on PANI–TiC/GCE showed three pairs of redox peaks in acid medium and a pair of obvious redox peak in neutral medium. Electrocatalysis for ascorbic acid (AA) revealed good catalytic performance with the linear range from 50 μM to 2.25 mM and a sensitivity of 13.3 μA mM−1 cm−2 in neutral medium. This simple synthesis technique of preparing PANI–TiC nanocomposites showed great potential applications in sensor, catalysis, biomedical, environmental analysis, and so on.

► We successfully synthesized the novel PANI–TiC nanocomposite by the in situ chemical oxidative polymerization method.
► The novel nanocomposite material showed good electrochemical properties and electrocatalytic.
► This is the first report to prepare the PANI–TiC using simple synthesis technique.
► The PANI–TiC nanocomposite has good synergic effect.