Facile synthesis and characterisation of SiO2@PSS/Ag-PPy using SiO2@PSS as template.

A new route for the in-situ formation of silver-polypyrrole (Ag-PPy) on the layer of SiO₂@poly(sodium styrene sulphonate) (SiO₂@PSS/Ag-PPy) composite particles, using SiO₂@poly(sodium styrene sulphonate) (SiO₂@PSS) particles as a template is presented. The template SiO₂@PSS consisting of a SiO₂ core and PSS on the surface was prepared by the 'grafting from' approach. SiO2@PSS/Ag-PPy was characterised by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopic analysis, thermo-gravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis. The results showed that the SiO₂@PSS/Ag-PPy composites consisting of a spherical structure with a diameter of about 80 nm were successfully fabricated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]