Controlled synthesis of transition metal/conducting polymer nanocomposites.

Zhen Liu, Yang Liu, Lin Zhang, Selcuk Poyraz, Ning Lu, Moon Kim, James Smith, Xiaolong Wang, Yajiao Yu, Xinyu Zhang

Index: Nanotechnology 23(33) , 335603, (2012)

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Abstract

A novel displacement reaction has been observed to occur between conducting polymers (CP) and metal salts which can be used to fabricate nanostructured CP-metal composites in a one-pot manner. Vanadium pentoxide (V(2)O(5)) nanofiber is used during the synthesis as the reactive seeds to induce the nanofibril CP-metal network formation. The CP-metal nanocomposites exhibit excellent sensory properties for hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) detection, where both high sensitivity and a low detection limit can be obtained. The sensory performance of the CP-metal composite can be further enhanced by a facile microwave treatment. It is believed that the CP-metal nanofibril network can be converted to a carbon-metal network by a microwave-induced carbonization process and result in the sensory enhancement.