Fabrication of polypyrrole/graphene oxide nanocomposites by liquid/liquid interfacial polymerization and evaluation of their optical, electrical and electrochemical properties

A novel route has been developed to synthesize polypyrrole (PPy)/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites via liquid/liquid interfacial polymerization where GO and initiator was dispersed in the aquous phase and the monomer was dissolved in the organic phase. The synthesized samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), ultraviolet visible absorption (UV-vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), electrochemical and electrical conductivity measurements. A good dispersion of the GO sheets within the PPy matrix was observed from the morphological analysis. The composites exhibited noticeable improvement in thermal stability and electrical conductivity in comparison to pure polypyrrole. The composites showed excellent electrochemical reversibility at the scan rate of 0.1 V/s and good cyclic stability even up to 100th cycle. Newly developed graphene oxide based polypyrrole composite could be applied in electrochemical energy storage device. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.