Sonication Time a Salient Parameter in Shaping the Conductivity and Morphology of Polyaniline

Abstract

A novel sonochemical method has been applied to prepare Polyaniline (PANI) from aniline monomers. PANI was synthesized via ultrasonic irradiation (U.I) by varying the sonication (reaction) time. Surface morphology and electrical conductivity were studied using FESEM and Four-probe conductivity meter and structural properties were examined using FT-IR and UV-VIS. The presence of characteristic bonds of PANI was observed from FTIR spectroscopy technique. The findings of this study reveal the importance of sonication time in shaping the morphology, particle sizes and electrical conductivity of the PANI. The morphology of the generated PANI indicated granular structure. On the other hand, the electrical conductivity of the nanocomposite increased up to 1.78 S/cm at 30 min of sonication and then decreased with further increase in sonication time. Sonochemical synthesis route is a multifaceted technique using which nanostructured materials with different physical and chemical characteristics can by produced. This can be achieved by just varying the treatment condition (e.g., ultrasonic irradiation time, amplitude, temperature) during sonication. Therefore, this study provides the optimized sonication time for PANI synthesis. The output of this research clearly shows that, ultrasonication is a one of the fast, versatile, emerging, and promising non-destructive green technology which still needs to be understood completely.