Chemical sensing, thermal stability, electrochemistry and electrical conductivity of silver nanoparticles decorated and polypyrrole enwrapped boron nitride nanocomposite

• Published in: Polymer (Guilford) Vol. 113; pp. 221 - 232
• Main Authors: Sultan, Adil, Mohammad, Faiz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 24.03.2017; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Boron; Boron nitride; Capacitance; Carbon dioxide; Chemical perception; Chemical synthesis; Chemoreception; Conductivity; Conductors; DC electrical conductivity; Electrical conductivity; Electrical resistivity; Electrochemical studies and chemical sensing; Electrochemistry; Electron microscopy; Emission analysis; Ferric chloride; Field emission microscopy; Fourier transforms; Infrared analysis; Infrared spectroscopy; Nanocomposites; Nanoparticles; Polymerization; PPy/Ag@BN nanocomposite; Scanning electron microscopy; Silver; Thermal stability; Thermogravimetric analysis; X-ray diffraction; PPy/Ag@BN nanocomposite; Electrochemical studies and chemical sensing; DC electrical conductivity
• ISSN: 0032-3861; 1873-2291
• DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2017.02.074

In the present work, a nanocomposite of boron nitride (BN) and silver nanoparticles (Ag) enwrapped by polypyrrole (PPy) has been synthesized for first time via in situ chemical oxidative polymerization of pyrrole using ferric chloride. The structures of synthesized FeCl3 doped PPy, BN/Ag and PPy/Ag@BN nanocomposites were confirmed by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmittance electron microscopy technique. Our investigations showed that the electrical response of PPy/Ag@BN nanocomposite which contains a conductor (Ag), an insulator (BN) and a semiconductor (PPy), was greater than that of polypyrrole. The electrochemical supercapacitive performance shows that FeCl3 doped PPy has higher capacitance than PPy/Ag@BN which might be due to higher conductivity of PPy as PPy/Ag@BN shows poor conductivity due to the insulating nature of BN. The newly synthesized nanocomposite showed rapid CO2 sensing and significantly improved DC electrical conductivity. [Display omitted] •Polypyrrole has been recognized as an excellent material for electrical and electrochemical properties.•However, poor stability limits it's use for supercapacitor application.•In this work, silver nanoparticles decorated and polypyrrole enwrapped boron nitride nanocomposite was successfully synthesized to improve the electrical and electrochemical properties.•The synthesized materials were found to show excellent and rapid CO2 gas sensing and very good DC electrical conductivity.•Since the synthesis route is simple and convenient, such type of materials can be applied in modern electrical devices which require high combination of conductivity and stability.