Effect of swift heavy ion beam irradiation on Au–polyaniline composite films

In this paper, two-step electrochemical synthesis method is reported for the fabrication of Au–polyaniline (Au–PANI) composite film. Initially, PANI film was electrochemically synthesized by using chronopotentiometery with optimized process parameters on platinum electrode. The synthesized PANI film acts as working electrode for the decoration of Au particles on the surface of PANI film by using cyclovoltammetry (CV) technique. Later, these films were irradiated under high vacuum (∼5 × 10−6 Torr) at room temperature with 40 MeV C5+ ion beam at various fluences ranging from 1 × 1011 to 1 × 1013 ions/cm2. The Au–PANI composite films were characterized before and after irradiation by using micro-Raman, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The characteristic peaks of the Raman spectrum of Au–PANI composite films were reduced after irradiation. XRD spectra exhibited the decrease in the peak intensity. Moreover, interchain distance, interplanar distance, micro strain, dislocation density and distortion parameters were calculated. The analysis revealed a significant variation in these parameters with an increase in the ion fluence, which is in line with the Raman analysis. SEM shows the formation of clusters with porous structure after irradiation.

► Two step electrochemical synthesis of Au–polyanilne composite films.
► Study of the effect of heavy ion beam irradiation on composite films.
►  The characteristic peaks of the Raman spectrum of Au–PANI composite films were reduced after irradiation.
► XRD spectra exhibited the decrease in the peak intensity.
► SEM shows the formation of clusters with porous structure after irradiation.