In situ emulsion Polymerization of Poly(Thiophene-co-pphenylenediamine) @Fe3O4 nanocomposites and Investigation of their antioxidant activity

In situ emulsion polymerization was utilized for synthesis of organic/inorganic conductive nanocomposites based on Thiophene and p-phenylenediamine copolymer using sodium dodecyl sulfate as an anionic emulsifier and ammonium persulfate as an oxidant. The newly synthesized copolymer and nanocomposites characterized in terms of chemical structure and morphology by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All synthesized nanocomposites showed a crystalline pattern. The conductivity of copolymer and nanocomposites was measured by the four-probe method and it was found that the electrical conductivity of the nanocomposites is considerably higher than copolymer and it’s related to presence of Fe3O4 nanoparticle in the nanocomposites. The maximum electrical conductivity (1.1 × 10-2 S/cm) was obtained for a nanocomposite having 1:1 ratio of Poly (Thiophene-co-p-phenylenediamine) and Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The obtained nanocomposites were analyzed for their antioxidant activities using 2, 2- diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay and the results indicated a maximum antioxidant activity of 54% for the nanocomposites.