Electronically conducting montmorillonite-Cu2S and montmorillonite-Cu2S-polypyrrole nanocomposites

• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2007.05.044
• Publication Date: 2007-05-25T12:23:21Z
• Authors: A.U. Ranaweera; H.M.N. Bandara; R.M.G. Rajapakse
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology

Abstract By making use of cation-exchange approach, montmorillonite-Cu 2 S (MMT-Cu 2 S) nanocomposite was prepared and characterized. Its conductivity was found to be 3.03 × 10 −4 S m −1 . Pyrrole was introduced to MMT-Cu 2 S and polymerized within the interlayer to obtain MMT-Cu 2 S-polypyrrole (MMT-Cu 2 S-PPY) nanocomposite. The materials were characterized by XRD, FT-IR and ac impedance measurements. The conductivities of both materials were found to be mainly electronic as confirmed by the dc polarization analysis but the former has a slight ionic conductivity due to mobile protons. In the latter the negatively charged clay sheet serves as a giant immobile anion and hence has no ionic component for the conductivity. The electronic conductivity is 2.65 S m −1 .