Polyaniline-coated halloysite nanotubes via in-situ chemical polymerization

Polyaniline coated halloysite nanotubes (PANI/HNTs) were prepared by the in-situ soapless emulsion polymerization of the anilinium chloride adsorbed halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), obtained by the dispersion of HNTs in acidic aqueous solution of aniline with magnetic stirring and ultrasonic irradiation, by using ammonium persulfate (APS) as oxidant. The effect of the acidities of the polymerizing media on the crystal structure of the nanotubes was investigated with X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. The surface conducting coatings of the hybrids were characterized with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The morphological analyses showed that the polyaniline coated halloysite nanotubes via the in-situ chemical oxidation polymerization with ultrasonic irradiation had the better well-defined structures, by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The conductivities of the PANI/HNTs hybrids increased with the increasing of the amounts of HCl dopant added in the emulsion polymerization.