Characterization of nanostructured PbO2–PANi composite materials synthesized by combining electrochemical and chemical methods

Thi Binh Phan, Thi Tot Pham and Thi Thanh Thuy Mai

Abstract

Nanostructured PbO₂–PANi composite materials were prepared by combining electrochemical and chemical methods. Firstly, PbO₂ was deposited on a stainless steel substrate by pulsed current method and then obtained PbO₂ electrode was immersed into acidic aniline solution to form nanostructured PbO₂–PANi composites. The synthesized samples were characterized by infrared (IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol on those composites was evaluated by potentiodynamic polarization from 1.4 to 2.2 V versus Ag/AgCl/saturated KCl electrode. The adsorption of N–H group as well as the presence of benzoid and quinoid ring vibrations on IR-spectrum asserts that PANi coexisted with β-PbO₂ which is evidenced by x-ray analysis. With increasing immersion times of the PbO₂ electrode in the acidic aniline solution the electrocatalytic performance of the obtained PbO₂–PANi composites for methanol oxidation was improved due to the formation of less closely knitted nano-sized PANi fibers, which was confirmed by surface morphology analysis.

An erratum for this article has been published in 2013 Adv. Nat. Sci: Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 4 029601