Synthesis of polyaniline/multi-walled carbon nanotube nanocomposites in water/oil microemulsion

Abstract A water/oil microemulsion system having been successfully used for synthesizing polyaniline(PANi) nanoparticles, was employed for preparing PANi/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) nanocomposites via in situ chemical oxidative polymerization. The structures and the electrical property of PANi/MWCNT nanocomposites were also studied. The studies showed that PANi could coat MWCNTs to form nanocables with core–shell structure, and the backbone structure of PANi was not damaged by the introduction of MWCNTs. The conductivities of PANi/MWCNT nanocomposites were higher than that of PANi. Moreover, a model was supposed to be used for describing a PANi/MWCNT nanocable formation by in situ microemulsion polymerization.