Self-assembled hollow polyaniline/Au nanospheres obtained by a one-step synthesis

Self-assembled hollow nanosphere composites of polyaniline and Au nanoparticles (PANI-p-TSA/Au) were chemically synthesized from solutions containing p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TSA) with the addition of gold chloride trihydrate as the oxidant. The composite materials were characterized by SEM, TEM, and a range of spectroscopic methods. Spectroscopic characterizations confirmed that the polymeric product is a form of doped PANI, while electron diffraction and X-ray diffraction showed that elemental Au was present in the PANI-p-TSA/Au nanocomposites. The room temperature electrical conductivity of the PANI-p-TSA/Au nanocomposites was two orders of magnitude greater than a PANI-p-TSA obtained in the presence of ammonium persulfate as the oxidant under the same conditions.