POLYANILINE COMPOSITES AND FABRICATION METHOD THEREOF

Polyaniline composites comprise a major matrix and fillers. The major matrix is polyaniline having electrical conductivity. The fillers are used to fill the matrix. The fillers comprise carbon materials and metal materials. For example, carbon materials can be graphene, carbon nanotubes or combination thereof. The metal materials are attached to or embedded on the carbon materials. Besides, a method for fabricating polyaniline composites is also provided. By decorating the carbon materials with the metal materials, conductivity and electromagnetic shielding efficiency of the polyaniline composites are enhanced significantly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a polyaniline composite comprises a major matrix and a filler. The major matrix is composed of polyaniline which is electronically conductive. The filler is distributed inside the major matrix or attached to the major matrix. The weight percentage of the filler is between 0.1% and 10% of the polyaniline composite, preferably, between 0.5% and 5%. The filler comprises a carbon material and a metal material. The carbon material comprises carbon nanomaterials such as graphene or carbon nanotubes or combination thereof. As for the metal material, it comprises at least one of silver, nickel, gold, copper, platinum, and palladium. The metal material in the form of nanoparticles is attached to or embedded in the carbon material or distributed in the major matrix. In one embodiment of the present invention, graphene is decorated with silver (Ag@graphene) or decorated with nickel (Ni@graphene), etc. As shown inFIG. 1, metal particles1are attached to or embedded in graphene2. Preferably, multilayer graphene (e.g. 4 to 5 layers) is used in the present invention. As shown inFIG. 5, it illustrates a four layer structure of graphene. Metal particles1are attached to, embedded in or intercalated between graphene2.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method for fabricating polyaniline composites comprising steps is stated as follows: preparing a filler, wherein the filler comprises a carbon material and a metal material, wherein the metal material is attached to the carbon matrix, embedded in the carbon material, or distributed in the major matrix; using a aniline monomer solution containing aniline monomers to synthesize a major matrix, wherein the major matrix is composed of polyaniline, and the filler is distributed in the major matrix or is attached to the major matrix. Features, composition and structure of these components are described before and will not be elaborated here. The method for fabricating these materials will be described in details hereinafter.

In one embodiment, the step of preparing the filler contains mixing the carbon materials, a precursor of the metal material and a reducing agent together to synthesize the metal materials attached to or embedded in the carbon materials or combination thereof. If the carbon material comprises graphene, according to one embodiment of the present invention, graphene must be synthesized before the step. The modified Hummer's method is adopted to synthesize graphite oxide (GO), which includes the intercalation of H2SO4into the interspace between graphite layers followed by introducing KMnSO4and subsequently adding H2O2into the solution; all the processes are carried out under stirring. Afterward, the solution comprising GO is mixed with AgNO3solution under stirring. Subsequently, a reducing agent, such as NaBH4solution is added to reduce graphite oxide under reflux so as to obtain graphene. Meanwhile, silver in AgNO3solution is reduced and the silver nanoparticles are attached to or embedded in graphene. Nickel or other metal materials can also be fabricated using the similar route, which are attached to or embedded in graphene. Besides, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the step of preparing the filler further comprises functionalizing the surface of the carbon materials to facilitate the metal materials to react with the carbon materials. For example, commercialized available graphene can be directly mixed with H2SO4and KMnSO4under ultrasonication at room temperature. Afterward, HCl is added into the solution under stirring and heating for functionalizing the graphene surface, which enables graphene to bind metal nanoparticles easily. Subsequently, the precursor of metal material is added to the graphene solution, the metal material can be deposited and/or embedded on the graphene.FIG. 3AandFIG. 3Bshow SEM (scanning electron microscope) images of Ag@graphene and Ni@graphene, respectively. They clearly show that nanoparticles of the metal materials are distributed on graphene.

Next, an aniline monomer solution is mixed with the said filler to fabricate polyaniline composites. Synthesis of polyaniline is conventionally known and will not be elaborated here. According to the present invention, there are two major methods to synthesize polyaniline composite. In one embodiment, the filler is firstly dispersed in solvent followed by mixing with the aniline monomer solution so that the filler reacts with the aniline monomers to synthesize the polyaniline composites. In the mean time, the filler is distributed in the major matrix or attached to the major matrix. In another embodiment, the aniline monomer solution is used to synthesize the major matrix and then mixed with a first solution comprising the filler so that the filler can be distributed in the major matrix or attached to the major matrix. It should be understood that the polyaniline composite fabricated by the aforementioned method has better dispersion. The SEM images shown inFIG. 4AandFIG. 4Billustrate morphologies of polyaniline composites comprising Ag@graphene and Ni@graphene, respectively.

Graphene decorated with metal particles distributed in or attach on polyaniline can promote electrical conductivity of the polyaniline composite. Conventionally, better conductivity means higher mobility of free electrons, which causes skin effect of electronic currents. Taking electromagnetic waves for example, when it pass through the polyaniline composite of the present invention, electrons over the surface of the composite would be polarized, which reduces the strength of the electromagnetic wave and leads to better electromagnetic shielding efficiency. Based on the method for fabricating polyaniline composites according to one embodiment of the present invention, by adding graphene decorated with metal nanoparticles to the polyaniline composites, its imaginary part of the dielectric coefficient is superior to that of pure polyaniline and polyaniline composites containing graphene. The results shown inFIG. 2illustrating that the polyaniline composite containing 5 wt % Ag@graphene has the highest dielectric coefficient.

To expound it clearly, electromagnetic shielding efficiencies of the fabricated polyaniline composite according to the present invention, pure polyaniline (PAni), and polyaniline composites containing different weight percentages of graphene are listed in Table 1.

Based on the data shown in Table 1, comparisons on the electromagnetic shielding efficiencies of the polyaniline composites are: PAni+5% Ag@graphene (29.33 dB)>PAni+5% Ni@graphene (24.93 dB)>PAni+5% graphene (24.85 dB)>pure PAni (14.52 dB). Obviously, the polyaniline composite of the present invention (PAni+5% Ag@graphene) has the best electromagnetic shielding efficiency (29.33 dB) which is applicable for industrial application.

In conclusion, a polyaniline composite and a fabrication method thereof are provided here. One of the conductive polymers, polyaniline, is adopted as major matrix. Carbon materials decorated with different weight percentages of metal materials, such as graphene decorated with silver (Ag@graphene) or nickel nanoparticles (Ni@graphene), are added and mixed with polyaniline synthesize polyaniline composites. Choosing polyaniline is owing to its relatively high electrical conductivity. By introducing conductive materials (e.g. Ag@graphene or Ni@graphene) into polyaniline matrix, the electrical conductivity of the composites can be promoted; as a result, electromagnetic shielding efficiency is enhanced. According to the experimental data, the composites fabricated according to the present invention show better performance in electromagnetic shielding efficiency.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, a specific example thereof has been shown in the drawings and is herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, the invention is not to be limited to the particular form disclosed, but to the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.