Ternary Ag/Polyaniline/Au nanocomposites: Preparation, characterization and electrochemical properties

Ternary Ag/Polyaniline/Au nanocomposites were synthesized successfully by immobilizing of Au nanoparticles (NPs) on the surface of Ag/Polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposites. Ag/PANI nanocomposites were prepared via in situ chemical polymerization of aniline in the presence of 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) capped silver colloidal NPs. Then, uniform gold (Au) NPs were assembled on the surface of resulted Ag/PANI nanocomposites through electrostatic interaction to get Ag/Polyaniline/Au nanocomposites. The nanocomposites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Moreover, Ag/PANI/Au nanocomposites were immobilized on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode and showed enhanced electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of H2O2 compared with Ag/PANI.