The synthesis of Ag/polypyrrole coaxial nanocables via ion adsorption method using different oxidants

Ag/polypyrrole (PPy) coaxial nanocables (NCs) were synthesized by an ion adsorption method. In this method, the pre-made Ag nanowires (NWs) were dispersed in the aqueous solution of copper acetate (Cu(Ac)₂), and the Cu²⁺ ions adsorbed onto the surface of Ag NWs can oxidize pyrrole monomers to polymerize into uniform PPy sheath outside Ag NWs after the Cu(Ac)₂-treated Ag NWs were re-dispersed in the aqueous solution of pyrrole. The morphology of NCs was characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The relationship between the thickness of polymer sheath and the concentration of Cu(Ac)₂ was established. As Cu(Ac)₂ which served as the oxidant can also be replaced by AgNO₃ in this synthesis, the differences on the structure of polymer sheath caused by different oxidants were studied by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Comparing with the characterization results of Ag/PPy NCs synthesized using AgNO₃ as the oxidant which indicates the random arrangement of PPy chains at the interface between polymer sheath and Ag NWs, PPy chain oxidized by Cu²⁺ tends to show a relatively ordered conformation at the interface with the pyrrole rings identically taking the plane vertical to the surface of Ag NWs. In addition, although the main part of the polymer sheath was composed of PPy whatever kind of oxidant was used, the sheath of the NCs oxidized by Cu²⁺ is typical for the existence of Cu(I)–pyrrole coordinate structures with strong Cu(I)–N bond signal shown in XPS characterization.