Conducting polypyrrole confined in ordered mesoporous silica SBA-15 channels: Preparation and its electrorheology

A new nanocomposite with conducting polypyrrole (PPy) confined in ordered mesoporous silica SBA-15 channels has been synthesized by an in situ polymerization technique. The resulting material was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption/desorption, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectra (FT-IR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results show that PPy is formed in the channels instead of coating the outer surface of SBA-15 and nanocomposite possesses well-ordered hexagonal structure. Further, nanocomposite particles were used as dispersed phase in silicone oil for electrorheological (ER) investigation. Suspension of PPy–SBA-15 displays notable ER characteristics under external electric fields.