Synthesis and Characterization of Gold/Polypyrrole Core−Shell Nanocomposites and Elemental Gold Nanoparticles Based on the Gold-Containing Nanocomplexes Prepared by Electrochemical Methods in Aqueous Solutions

Electromagnetic Functionalized and Core−Shell Micro/Nanostructured Polypyrrole Composites

Core-shell micro/nanostructured and electromagnetic functionalized polypyrrole (PPy) composites were prepared by a self-assembly process associated with the template method in the presence of p-toluenesulfonate acid (p-TSA) as the dopant, in which the spherical hydroxyl iron (Fe[OH], 0.5-5 microm in diameter) functioned not only as the hard template, but also as the "core" of the micro/nanostructure, and the self-assembled PPy-p-TSA nanofibers (20-30 nm in diameter) acted as the "shell" (50-100 nm in thickness) of the microspheres. We found that the core-shell micro/nanostructures exhibit controllable electromagnetic properties by adjusting the mass ratio of Fe[OH] to pyrrole monomer. The micelle model was proposed to interpret the self-assembly of the core-shell micro/nanostructured composites.

Conducting polymer-based nanostructurized materials: electrochemical aspects

New modern technologies require new materials. During the past decade, the movement towards nanodimensions in many areas of technology aroused a huge interest in nanostructurized materials. The present article reviews recent works dealing with electrochemistry-related aspects of nanostructurized conducting polymers. Electrochemical synthesis and some properties of nanostructurized conducting polymers, and nanocomposites derived from conducting polymers and metals, carbon, and inorganic and organic materials are considered. Some potential areas for electrochemistry-related applications of nanocomposites are highlighted, including batteries, supercapacitors, energy conversion systems, corrosion protection, and sensors.

Characterization of Polypyrrole−Silver Nanocomposites Prepared in the Presence of Different Dopants

Conducting polypyrrole (PPy) powder synthesized by using FeCl3 x 6 H2O and/or Fe(NO3)3 oxidants was impregnated in silver salt solutions. The stability and decomposition of the material was followed by thermogravimetric measurements. The total silver content was determined by atom absorption spectroscopy (ICP-AAS). The heat and electric conductivities of the composites were measured and correlated with the silver content. The incorporated silver was speciated and measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The spectra proved that the chemical state of the silver incorporated into the composite depends on the anion used in the polymerization process. In the case of the polymerization in a nitrate ion containing solution, the impregnation leads exclusively to the formation of metallic silver. The size distribution of the AgCl and Ag nanoparticles, determined from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) pictures in the different composites, proves the formation of a rather uniform species below 10 and 7 nm, respectively. The observations can be correlated with the different interactions in the PPy-chloride/nitrate-silver systems. The redox type interaction based conclusions can be considered as a guide during the preparation of other metal-conducting polymer composites.

General Equation for Size Nanocharacterization of the Core−Shell Nanoparticles by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

Nanocharacterization is essential for nanoengineering of new types of core-shell (c-s) nanoparticles, which can be used to design new devices for photonics, electronics, catalysis, medicine, etc. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has been widely used to study the elemental composition of the c-s nanoparticles. However, the physical and chemical properties of a c-s nanoparticle dramatically depend on the sizes of its core and shell. We therefore propose a general equation for the XPS intensity of a c-s nanoparticle, which is based on an analytical model. With this equation, XPS can now also be used for nanocharacterization of the core and shell sizes of the c-s nanoparticles (with a diameter smaller than or equal to the XPS probing depth of approximately 10 nm). To validate the new equation with experimental XPS data, we first determine the average shell thickness of a group of c-s nanoparticles by comparing the XPS intensity of reference bare cores to that of the c-s nanoparticles. Then we study the growth kinetics of the cores and shells of another group of c-s nanoparticles where the shells are obtained by oxidation.

Electrochemical methods for the preparation of gold-coated TiO2 nanoparticles with variable coverages

We report here the first electrochemical methods to prepare elemental Au0-coated TiO2 nanoparticles with controllable coverages. First, Au substrates were cycled in a deoxygenated aqueous solution containing 0.1 N HCl and 1 mM TiO2 nanoparticles from -0.28 to +1.22 V versus Ag/AgCl at 500 mV/s with different numbers of scans. The durations at the cathodic and anodic vertexes were 10 and 5 s, respectively. After this process, positively charged Au-coated TiO2 nanoparticles were formed in the solutions. Then a cathodic overpotential of 0.6 V from the open circuit potential of ca. 0.82 V versus Ag/AgCl was applied under sonication to synthesize elemental Au0-coated TiO2 nanoparticles. The coverage of Au shells in the elemental Au-coated TiO2 nanoparticles is varied from 10% to 95% by increasing the number of scans from 10 to 50 in preparing the positively charged Au-coated TiO2 nanoparticles. The extremely high coverage of 95% in this study is notable, as compared with other methods to prepare Au-coated TiO2 nanoparticles.