One-pot synthesis of the macroporous polyaniline microspheres and Ag/polyaniline core-shell particles

In this paper, we first report the macroporous polyaniline (PANI) microspheres and Ag/PANI core-shell structure via one-pot redox reaction in ethanol at 250 °C. Morphology of the obtained products was characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A series of comparative experiments reveal that both the reaction temperature and AgNO3 concentration play an important role in preparing macroporous PANI microspheres. Based on comparative experimental results, the bubble-induced mechanism can account for the formation of the macroporous PANI microspheres with small cavities with the sizes ranging from 10 nm to 300 nm on the exterior surface. The BET surface area of the macroporous PNI measured by N2 adsorption is 80.45 m2/g. Meanwhile, PANI microspheres present a nitrogen isotherm of Type II, according with a macroporous adsorbent. The optical properties of the macroporous PANI microspheres were investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, respectively. Moreover, DFT results indicate that the PANI structure is not a linear structure, but a curved structure. In addition, Ag/PANI core-shell particles with a large core of the size of about 200 nm and relative thin shell of the thickness of about 50 nm were obtained, which were characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), SEM, TEM, and selected-area electronic diffraction (SAED).