Conductive hollow nanospheres of polyaniline via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization of 4-vinylaniline and oxidative graft copolymerization of aniline

Abstract

A surface initiated living polymerization approach to the preparation of well-defined polyaniline (PANI) hollow nanospheres was analyzed. The atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) initiator trichloro (4- chloromethylphenyl) silane was immobilized on the silica nanoparticles of about 25 nm diameter through the reaction of the chlorosilyl group with the silanol group. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image of the initiator-immobilization silica nanoparticles showed that the surface-modified nanoparticles remained unagglomerated. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) wide-scan spectrum and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis of the surface-modified nanoparticles indicated that the benzyl chloride initiators have been successfully immobilized on the silica surface. Surface oxidative graft copolymerization of aniline, using the aniline moieties of PVAn as the anchoring sites, produced the P (VAn-graft-PANI) hollow nanospheres with a conductive shell.