Preparation of nanoparticle–polymer composite with plasma treatment

Titanium dioxide as inorganic nanoparticles and emeraldine based (EB) polyaniline (PANI) as polymer are used in preparation of a nanoparticle–polymer composite. The polyaniline was prepared by a temperature-controlled self-stabilized dispersion polymerization method. The nanoparticles were plasma-treated in N 2/SO 2 at a low pressure to improve dispersion in solvent and to sulfonate them. The plasma-treated nanoparticle, PANI, and a solvent were introduced into a reaction vessel. The mixtures were changed from heavy blue to green after stirring for 3 h. The characteristic peaks of the obtained composite in the UV–visible spectrum appeared at 325–360, 400–430, and 780–826 nm, which correspond to π–π*, polaron–π*, and π–polaron transitions, respectively. The results mean that PANI in the composite is in the doped state. The plasma-treated TiO 2 and the composite were preliminarily characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared, and transmission electron microscopy.