Solvent-free and large-scale preparation of silver@polypyrrole core@shell nanocomposites; structural properties and terahertz spectroscopic studies

Abstract There is a growing interest over the environmental safety and mass-production of polymer nanocomposites. Solvent-free synthetic pathways are considered as promising alternative green techniques because of their high efficiency, simplicity and negligible liberation of hazardous waste. A new synthetic route has been developed to synthesize silver@polypyrrole core@shell nanocomposites at ambient condition. The silver nanoparticles are directly synthesized via solid-state reaction with poly(vinylpyrrolidone) and then pyrrole is polymerized in Ag/PVP powder. The band gap value decreases with the increased addition of pyrrole in the preparation step due to the formation of more silver nanoparticles. Scanning and transmission electron microscope confirm the formation of core@shell structure. The negatively charged carbonyl group of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) can bind to polycationic polypyrrole by an electrostatic effect to form the core@shell structure. The terahertz spectroscopy characterizes the prepared core@shell nanocomposites that are well fit to the Drude-Smith model. The DC optical conductivity in the terahertz range (0.3–2 THz) is increased with increasing Py addition.