Electronically conducting montmorillonite-Cu2S and montmorillonite-Cu2S-polypyrrole nanocomposites

By making use of cation-exchange approach, montmorillonite-Cu2S (MMT-Cu2S) nanocomposite was prepared and characterized. Its conductivity was found to be 3.03 × 10−4 S m−1. Pyrrole was introduced to MMT-Cu2S and polymerized within the interlayer to obtain MMT-Cu2S-polypyrrole (MMT-Cu2S-PPY) nanocomposite. The materials were characterized by XRD, FT-IR and ac impedance measurements. The conductivities of both materials were found to be mainly electronic as confirmed by the dc polarization analysis but the former has a slight ionic conductivity due to mobile protons. In the latter the negatively charged clay sheet serves as a giant immobile anion and hence has no ionic component for the conductivity. The electronic conductivity is 2.65 S m−1.