Heterogeneous silver–polyaniline nanocomposites with tunable morphology and controllable catalytic properties

Conghui Yuan, Yiting Xu, Lina Zhong, Long Zhang, Cangjie Yang, Binjie Jiang, Yuanming Deng, Birong Zeng, Ning He, Weiang Luo and Lizong Dai



This paper introduces not only a simple hydrothermal route to silver–polyaniline (Ag–PANI) nanocomposites with controllable morphology, but also a type of catalyst possessing tunable and switchable catalytic capability. Ag–PANI Janus nanoparticles (NPs) and Ag@PANI core–shell NPs have been constructed successfully at different hydrothermal temperatures. The diameter of both Ag and PANI hemispheres of Janus NPs, as well as the PANI shell thickness of core–shell NPs, was finely tuned via adjustment of the feed ratio. We also gained a deeper insight into the functionalities of PANI components in the catalytic capability of the heterogeneous catalysts, choosing catalytic reductions of nitrobenzene (NB) and 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) as model reactions. Our results showed that the catalytic capability of the nanocomposites was dependent on the PANI morphology and hydrophobicity. The PANI shell coating on Ag NPs can concentrate the lipophilic NB, thus leading to an enhanced catalytic capabil...



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