In situ synthesis of gold–polyaniline composite in nanopores of polycarbonate membrane

摘要

In situ one-step chemical synthesis route for the preparation of a gold–polyaniline composite in nanopores of polycarbonate (PC) membrane is reported. PC membrane, which was placed in a specially designed two-compartment cell, separated the aqueous solution of aniline from HAuCl4 solution. Concentration gradient across the membrane caused movement of AuCl4 − and anilinium ions in the pores of polycarbonate membrane. Nanopores in PC membrane acted as reaction vessels where aniline and HAuCl4 were allowed to mix together, and the redox reaction between aniline and HAuCl4 led to the formation of gold–polyaniline composite. The gold–polyaniline composite in PC membrane was characterised by EDXRF, XRD, UV–Vis spectroscopy, FTIR and TEM. Peak broadening in XRD suggests that Au particles formed in the membrane are nanocrystallites and average crystallite size is (24 ± 4) nm. TEM studies show that gold nanoparticles are randomly dispersed in polyaniline clusters formed in the nanopores of PC membrane. Characterisation results show that the surfaces of the PC membrane exposed to HAuCl4 and aniline have significantly higher concentrations of Au nanoparticles and polyaniline, respectively.