Simultaneous Deposition of Poly(o-anisidine) and Noble Ag Particles on Wool Fabric and The Evaluation of Its Performance as Catalyst in Dye Reduction

The conductive poly(o-anisidine) (POA) and noble Ag particles were simultaneously deposited on wool fabrics, by the polymerization of o-anisidine with the oxidant mixtures of silver nitrate and ammonium persulfate in different sulfonic acids media. The effect of concentrations of sulfonic acids was investigated on the contents of conductive components (POA/Ag%) and the volume resistivity of the composites. The change in the surface morphology of POA coating, distribution of Ag particles and conformance of noble Ag particles were identified with SEM, EDX, and XRD techniques, respectively. It was observed that the usage of sulfonic acids significantly increased the coating density of the POA/Ag, compared to a control sample prepared in 1.0 M HNO3 solution. The composites were tested in the catalytic reduction of a dye molecule (methylene blue) with the existence of excess sodium borohydride, and a relatively high catalytic activity (70%) was obtained at 75 min compared to a control POA/wool sample.