Reversed micelle synthesis of Ag/polyaniline nanocomposites via an in situ ultraviolet photo-redox mechanism

Silver/polyaniline nanocomposites were synthesized in reversed micellar solution, and the reaction was performed via in situ reduction of silver nitrate in aniline by photolysis. The nanocomposites were characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, thermo-gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetric analysis, and electrochemical methods. The results showed that the Ag/polyaniline nanocomposites are composed of nano-sized particles of 15–30 nm that contain Ag domains of 10–15 nm. The electrical conductivity of an Ag/polyaniline pellet is 95.89 S cm-1, whereas a polyaniline pellet is found to be 3.1 × 10-2 S cm-1. Ag/polyaniline composites also have a higher degradation temperature and specific capacitance, when compared with pure polyaniline. Potentiodynamic polarization showed the anodic shifting of the zero current potential and a lower exchange current density for the Ag/polyaniline composite. Compared with polyaniline, the Ag/polyaniline nanocomposite is a promising candidate for coatings with improved anticorrosion performance