Praparation, characterizations, and its potential applications of PANi/ graphene oxide nanocomposite

Abstract Graphene oxide (GO), nano/micro-structured polyaniline (PANi) are some typical important functional materials, which have many applications in lithium ion battery with high energy, supercapacitor, catalysts, solar cells, nanodevices, chemical sensors, biosensors and biomedical fields. In this paper, GO was obtained by using chemical oxidation method at room temperature, and nano/micro-structured GO/PANi composite was prepared with in-situ polymerization of aniline in the presence of GO suspension. A series of characterizations were examined by TEM (transmission electron microscopy), SEM (scanning electron microscope), XRD (X-ray diffraction), the Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra, UV-Vis, et al. The results indicated that most of the surface of GO sheets was covered with a smooth thin layer of polyaniline, and some domains of the surface of GO sheets were clearly observed polyaniline nanowires anchored. To examine the surface and interface properties of GO/PANi nanocomposite, chemical prototype sensors were constructed based on GO/PANi nanocomposite and a QCM (quartz crystal microbalance) device. The response behaviors of the sensor to some typical volatile compounds operating at room temperature were investigated. The adsorption features to some typical volatile compounds were discussed. Some key issues and modification ideas were suggested for further investigation.