Physical and electrochemical investigations on hybrid materials synthesized by polyaniline with various amounts of ZnO nanoparticle

[Display omitted] •New hybrid materials for PANI-ZnO have been studied.•Adhesion of PANI on ZnO surface was followed by chemical oxidative.•The hybrid materials were analyzed by XRD, TGA, SEM, UV and FTIR.•The hybrid materials are more thermal stability than the PANI.•Good electrochemical response has been observed for samples synthesized. Hybrid-materials were prepared via chemical polymerization in presence of aniline with various amounts of ZnO. The structural, functional, optical, morphological and electrical properties of nanocomposites were investigated by XRD, FT-IR, UV–Visible, TGA, SEM and electrical conductivity. XRD and SEM analysis shows the formation of nanocomposite and confirms the amorphous and crystalline nature of material. FT-IR spectrum reveals the functional groups present in the samples and the electroactive and optical properties were affected. Results showed that our nanocomposites exhibited a direct optical energy gap that decreased from 3.12 to 2.76 eV with the increment of the amounts of ZnO in nanocomposite.