POLYBENZIDINE-MONTMORILLONITE NANOCOMPOSITES: SYNTHESIS VIA A MECHANOCHEMICAL INTERCALATION METHOD

Rezumat

A new and clean preparation method of Polybenzidine-montmorillonite conducting nanocomposites is reported in this paper. Solid-solid reaction was successfully used to synthesize these hybrid materials by grinding mixtures of various amounts of benzidine (BZ) and sodium montmorillonite. The characterization techniques confirmed the incorporation of BZ in the nanospace of the clay and showed that BZ molecules intercalate with a monolayer arrangement parallel to the plan of the clay layers. The amount of BZ and the presence of the clay affect deeply the melting point of benzidine and favour the formation of new crystallographic phases. Polymerization of benzidine between the clay layers was performed using the same method by adding ammonium peroxodisulfate. The formation of four types of polymers in the interlayer space of the clay was pointed out. One of them is probably responsible for the enhancement of the conductivity when compared to the clay-free polybenzidine sample.

article_11 (English)