Effect of Gelatin Incorporation on the Surface Morphology and Conductivity of Polyaniline/Silver Chloride Composites

Polyaniline (PANI) composites containing silver chloride (AgCl) embedded on gelatin were prepared via the chemical polymerization of aniline hydrochloride employing ammonium persulfate as an oxidant in the presence of silver nitrate and gelatin. X-ray diffraction patterns showed the crystalline nature of PANI/AgCl was increased by the incorporation of gelatin, where gelatin acts as a structure-directing template and induces a highly oriented growth of PANI over its surface. Conductivity studies showed the enhanced conductivities for PANI/gelatin-AgCl compared to PANI/AgCl. The enhancement of conductivity seems to be due to the formation of uniform crystalline composites by the incorporation of gelatin. The gelatin might act as a stabilizer to inhibit the agglomeration of AgCl and PANI, and therefore resulted in uniform surface morphology with a good crystallinity.