Effect of CuO on the Thermal Stability of Polyaniline Nanofibers

Direct evidence of the control of thermal stability of polyaniline (PANI) nanofibers is reported by systematically varying the loadings of CuO in the synthesis process. The addition of Cu was maintained in the range from 0.005 g to 1.0 g. The freshly prepared PANI-CuO composite nanofibers were investigated by means of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). TGA data showed that the thermal stability of PANI nanofibers was greatly improved when the CuO were added, except for the highest addition of CuO (1.00 g). We also found that 0.01 g loading of CuO is favorable to obtain comparatively more thermally stable PANI than the other amount. The degradation of PANI chains started at 360 degrees C for the PANI-CuO composites obtained at 0.01 g CuO addition, which is the highest temperature compared to PANI and the samples synthesized at other amount of CuO loadings.