One-step facile synthesis of poly(N-vinylcarbazole)-polypyrrole/graphene oxide nanocomposites: enhanced solubility,thermal stability and good electrical conductivity

Poly (N-vinylcarbazole)-polypyrrole/graphene oxide (PNVC-Ppy/GO) nanocomposites have been successfully prepared by one-step chemical oxidative polymerization using ferric chloride hexahydrate in the presence of dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid. The composite formation, morphology and the crystallinity of the composite have been characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, FESEM, and XRD, respectively. The incorporation of graphene oxide into the PNVC-Ppy matrix induces interaction between graphene oxide and PNVC-Ppy via hydrogen bonding and π–π* stacking. This π–π* stacking between the GO layers and PNVC-Ppy produces longer conjugation length leading to a higher solubility in organic solvents and enhanced electron mobility. The information of conjugation chain length and charge transfer capacity at the interface of the composite has been obtained from the Raman spectroscopy and photolumincience spectroscopy. The improved thermal stability and electrical d.c. conductivity (0.123?S/cm) of the resulting PNVC-Ppy/GO composite compared to the PNVC–Ppy copolymer (0.08?S/cm) is attributed to the incorporation of graphene oxide in the composite.