Synthesis of electrically active biopolymer–SiO2 nanocomposite aerogel

Silica nanoparticles encapsulated acacia gum–silica (AgSiO2) composites were synthesized through sol–gel method using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as silica precursor in basic condition. The nanocomposite gels were dried at different temperatures to form aerogels. The incorporation of nanostructured silica will influence the electronic behavior of composite. The composition of silica with acacia gum was tailored to optimize the material having good electronic properties. The resulting material was characterized by FTIR, XRD and AFM. The control curing of the composite resulted to mesoporous material with nanosize silica. At optimum composition, electrical conductivity and ion transference number of hybrid material are found to be 18.3 × 10− 2 Scm− 1 and 4.26 × 102 cm2 V− 1 s− 1 respectively. The electrical conductivity of biopolymeric hybrid is comparable to that of commercially used synthetic conducting polymers. The ion transfer number of AgSiO2 nanocomposites attributes the superionic character for electrical conduction.