Research Article Open Access Ertekin et al., J Material Sci Eng 2016, 5:3 DOI: 10.4172/2169-0022.1000237 Research Article Open Access Journal of Material Science & Engineering J o u r n a l o f M a t e r i a l S c i e n c e s & E n g i n e e r i n g ISSN: 2169-0022 Volume 5 • Issue 3 • 1000237 J Material Sci Eng ISSN: 2169-0022 JME, an open access journal Synthesis and Characterization of Polyaniline/Ignimbrite Nano-Composite Material Ertekin B 1 , Çimen Z 2 , Yilmaz H 2,* and Yilmaz UT 2 1 Department of Milk Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Adnan Menderes University, 09100 Aydın, Turkey 2 Department of Chemistry, Polatli Faculty of Arts and Science, Gazi University, 06900 Polatli, Ankara, Turkey Abstract In this study, Polyaniline-ignimbrite (PAN-IB) which is a novel nanocomposite material consisting of electrically conductive Polyaniline (PAn) polymer and Ignimbrite (IB) natural insulating material was synthesized chemically using KIO 3 as a radical initiator in aqueous media with conventional radical polymerization method. The synthesized nanocomposites including ignimbrite with various monomer-ignimbrite percentages were monitored with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and structural characterizations were examined with FTIR spectroscopy. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), particle size analysis with dynamic light scattering, magnetic susceptibility and conductivity measurements were also examined for all synthesized composites. With making a composite with aniline, the conductivity of ignimbrite (3 × 10 -7 Scm -1 ) reached to 2.7 × 10 -5 Scm -1 . However increasing the ratio of monomer which is added to ignimbrite did not make a signifcant change on conductivity of the resulting composite. *Corresponding author: Yilmaz H, Polatli Faculty of Arts and Science, Department of Chemistry, Gazi University, 06900 Polatli, Ankara, Turkey, Tel: 903122126840; E-mail: hasim@gazi.edu.tr Received January 07, 2016; Accepted March 03, 2016; Published March 13, 2016 Citation: Ertekin B, Çimen Z, Yilmaz H, Yilmaz UT (2016) Synthesis and Characterization of Polyaniline/Ignimbrite Nano-Composite Material. J Material Sci Eng 5: 237. doi:10.4172/2169-0022.1000237 Copyright: © 2016 Ertekin B, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Keywords: Nanocomposites; Polyaniline; Ignimbrite; Magnetic susceptibility Introduction Nowadays, polymeric nano-composite materials have been gaining substantially growing importance in industrial feld. Fascinating features of these polymers such as solidity, lightness, fexibility, plasticity, having high chemical and corrosion resistance, thermal stability when combined with adding a flling substance to the ultimate material exhibit mechanical features like fame resistance or thermal stability and give rise to wide range of products. Sports equipment, rocket parts and the applications in the automobile industry are some examples of the use of these materials. Tere is an aroused interest in nanotechnology in composite applications because of new superior features that the use of nanotechnology ofers. Due to the reason that the flling substance is in nanoscale; there might be some features that cannot be observed in macro scale and only be realized in nanoscale. Tis phenomenon can be explained with the increased surface area of the substance in nanoscale with respect to its initial state when it is in macro scale. Increased surface area diferentiates the interactions between nano particles; and as a result of that there might be a change in the material weight, stifness, chemical and thermal features [1]. Furthermore, as the size of the particles decreases, the bonds between atoms and molecules in particles diferentiates, the number of atoms and molecules on the surface of the particles increases; and consequently these facts explain why particles in nanoscale demonstrate diferent behavior [2]. In addition, polymer nanocomposites are the materials that are used as matrix polymers. Polymer nanocomposites exhibit diferent behaviors depending upon some confguration properties such as; the ratio of polymer and flling substances they include, their chemical properties, and the crystallinity of polymer matrix. In general, ceramic matrix composites are manufactured to improve crack resistance. As distinct from ceramic matrix composites, in the materials derived from polymer matrix composites; either endurance and solidity or fexibility and processability are the concepts that are worked on. For example, in polymer matrix composites, material features such as elasticity and thermal expansion are dependent on the fller’s structure; however the strength of the composite will vary depending on the particle size of the flling substance. One of the frst studies on this subject is, polymer nanocomposite material which is conducted in Toyota Central Research Laboratories in the early 1990s [3]. As the little amount of flling material added to polymer, the positive changes on thermal and mechanical properties of the product have been observed in the research. Conductive polymers have been the subject of many studies in recent years due to their electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, corrosion resistance, and ability to be synthesized both chemically and electrochemically. Among conducting polymers; polyaniline (PAN) is a unique substance due to its excellent electrical, magnetic, and optical properties. It is thought to have a high potential in commercial applications regarding conductive polymers because of its low cost of synthesis and raw material. Its insolubility in many commonly used solvents limits its processability with solution process or melting process methods [4,5]. Improvement in the processability of polyaniline can be achieved by preparing copolymer, composite or blends with other polymers or inorganic materials [6-9]. Conductive polymers have a wide range of application areas such as; conductive coloring [10], optical devices [11], membranes [12], biomedical applications [13], the removal of heavy metals [14,15], and solar cells [16]. In present study, a natural rock ignimbrite that widely spreads around Cappadocia region in Turkey is milled and turned into a composite inside polyaniline matrix, there by obtaining both conductive and light material with high mechanical strength. Ignimbrite is a natural insulating material that widely spreads around Cappadocia region in Turkey. It is a light and easily processable rock