Doping of processable conducting poly(m‐aminophenol) with silver nanoparticles

Processable poly(m‐aminophenol) (PmAP) was synthesized using ammonium persulfate (APS) oxidant in 0.6 M sodium hydroxide solution at room temperature. Soluble silver hydroxide ammonium complex was formed by dissolving silver nitrate in excess liquor ammonia and the thermal decomposition of this complex easily produced silver nanoparticle. Then, in situ silver nanoparticle‐doped PmAP film was obtained by casting PmAP film from dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) with silver hydroxide ammonia complex mixture at 140°C. The nanocomposite was characterized by ultraviolet‐visible spectroscopy, Fourier transformed spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy, electron dispersion spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and X‐ray diffraction analysis. The average size of the nanoparticle was around 130–140 nm as confirmed by the TEM analysis. Synthesized PmAP silver nanocomposite showed the highest DC‐conductivity of 1.03 × 10^?6 S/cm. From the above characterizations, it can be said that silver nanoparticle shows some doping effect on the conductivity of PmAP. The doping level of the silver nanoparticle inside the polymer was optimized in terms of DC‐conductivity of the silver nanoparticle‐doped PmAP film. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.