Synthesis of Conductive Nanocomposites by Template Polymerization of Aniline in the Presence of Modified Polyvinyl alcohol and Cu Nanoparticles

In the present work, synthesis of polyaniline/Cu nanoparticle conductive nanocomposites is reported. For this purpose, firstly poly(2-hydroxyehtyl methacrylate-co-maleic anhydride) was synthesized via free radical polymerization and it was subjected to hydrolysis. Cu nanoparticles were then prepared from copper acetate hydrate in the presence of the synthesized polymer stabilizer. Besides, polyvinyl alcohol was modified via reacting with succinic anhydride. Then the oxidative polymerization of aniline was conducted in aqueous solution of the synthesized polyacid as template and Cu nanoparticles to give the final nanocomposites. All samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared and UV–Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy. In addition, the electrical conductivity of the samples was measured and compared with that of pure polyaniline by four-point probe technique.