ИСТИНА

In this work, we report in situ polymerization of aniline in the presence of graphene resulting in a composite material. This composite consisting of polyaniline (PANI) distributed among graphene nanosheets is readily dispersible in N-methylpyrrolidone. According to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis of the material, one PANI repeating unit consisting of four benzene rings is entangled to six carbon atoms of graphene. Hence, the properties of the composite such as solubility are mostly determined by PANI and the FTIR and Raman spectra are dominated by the conducting polymer bands. The dispersion can be easily doped with hydrochloric acid to transform PANI-graphene insulating composite into conducting form. The introduction of graphene increases the electrical conductivity of the composite by two orders of magnitude compared to pristine PANI and improves the thermal stability at T < 350°C. The dispersibility of PANI-graphene composites is a very important property for many applications and cannot be obtained with most reported preparation methods resulting in intractable non-dispersible materials. PANI-graphene dispersion can be used as a precursor for designing new materials and films with tailored properties such as doping degree of PANI and the acid anion used for the doping of the composite.