Design and Fabrication of conducting polymer/Platinum nanoparticles nanocomposites and the study of their physicochemical, morphological and linear actuation properties

Abstract

Preface: The combination of metal nanoparticles with conducting polymers has been performed for a few decades. In general, the obtained materials resulted in materials with an enhancement in some of their properties. However most of the studies in the literature deal with very thin films and their application towards catalytic or sensor devices. Herein, different approaches to obtain nanocomposites by the combination of Pt nanoparticles and conducting polymers were performed. In this study, the main focuses are: 1.Revealing the effect of Pt nanoparticles in conducting polymers and the possible reasons and mechanism behind the morphological changes in the conducting polymer structure upon the nanocomposite formation with metal nanoparticles as reported by some studies 2.Understanding the process behind the enhancement of some physical chemical properties of the conducting polymers upon the formation of nanocomposites with Pt nanoparticles such as an increase in the conductivity 3.The effect of the nanocomposites formation in thick films in the order of 5 to 15 um and the study of their properties when applied in a actuating rig set up.