Preparation and characterization of conducting polyaniline/silica nanosheet composites

A series of polyaniline/silica nanosheet composites (PANI/SNS) with different contents of the silica nanosheets derived from vermiculite via acid-leaching were prepared via the in situ chemical oxidation polymerization. The PANI/SNS composites were characterized with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and electrical conductivity measurement. It is interesting that the electrical conductivities of the PANI/SNS composites increased with the increasing of the contents of the silica nanosheets added because of the moisture absorption. It was confirmed by the TGA analysis.