Fabrication of polyaniline/zeolite composites and their response towards nitrogen dioxide

•The order of response of is: PANI/Na-erionite > PANI/Fe-erionite > PANI/Cu-erionite > PANI/H-erionite > PANI.•The response first increases and then attains a constant value.•The response decreases with increasing no. of cyclic intervals.•The response attains a steady state beyond 50% zeolite content.

A composite of Polyaniline with zeolite erionite was synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization method. The effect of cation type, cyclic interval, NO2 concentration over time, zeolite content on the response of polyanline and polyaniline/zeolite erionite composites towards NO2 was studied. Na-form shows largest response towards NO2 because of small electronegativity. The effect of cyclic interval on the response of the composite was studied and it was found that with increasing no. of cyclic intervals the response decreases. The response of the nanocomposite on exposing to NO2 first increases and then attains a constant value after some time.With increase in zeolite content; the response goes on increasing and attains a steady state beyond 50% zeolite content. The composites were characterized by FTIR, SEM and XRD techniques.

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