Novel alkyl substituted polyanilines/molybdenum disulfide nanocomposites

Polyaniline (PANI), poly(N-methyl aniline) (PMA), poly(ethyl aniline) (PEA) and poly(propyl aniline) (PPA) were synthesized in their salt form, and then characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and charge transport measurements. The solubility of the polymers was tested in a variety of solvents and N-methylformamide (NMF) was found to be the best solvent. While polyaniline gave a colloidal suspension in NMF, the solubility of the polymer increased with increasing length of the alkyl group, resulting in a concomitant decrease in electrical conductivity. The solubility of the polymers was exploited and their intercalation was performed in molybdenum disulfide by using the exfoliating/restacking property of LiMoS2. Powder X-ray diffraction showed that genuine intercalation compounds were formed. The resulting nanocomposites were also characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).