Polyaniline: A Functional Stabilizer for Nano-Composite Systems

Polyaniline is one of the promising functional polymers due to its controllable conductivity, ease of preparation, good environmental stability and its large and diverse range of applications in electro-chromic devices, light-emitting diodes, chromatography, secondary batteries, electrostatic discharge protection and corrosion-protecting paints. Metal nanoparticles with different sizes and shapes combined with polyaniline can give rise to a host polymer with interesting physical properties and important potential applications. In metal-polymer composite materials, the polymer acts both as a stabilizer of the host component and also serves as a major functional material. In this review, we will discuss the various methods of synthesis for polyaniline-based nanoparticle hybrid materials, the characterization of such composites as well as their potential applications.