A novel synthesis route for a gold-polymer soft composite material

We report on the synthesis of a metal-polymer composite material using an interfacial polymerization approach. The advantage of this approach is to form an intimate contact between the metal and polymer, which is an important parameter for the synthesis of a nanocomposite material. It was found that polymerization of o-phenylenediamine (PDA) using HAuCl₄ as an oxidizing agent leads to the formation of poly-PDA with a fiber-like morphology, while the reduction of HAuCl₄ results in the formation of well dispersed and stabilized gold nanoparticles within the polymer matrix. The synthesis was carried out at the organic-aqueous interface. The resultant composite material was purely hydrophilic in nature and deposited at the aqueous fraction of the reaction medium.