IN THIS STUDY SULFONATED POLY (ETHER ETHER KETONE) nanocomposite MEMBRANE CONTAINING 2.5 WT% ZIRCONIUM OXIDE WAS FABRICATED BY SOLUTION CASTING METHOD. THE SULFONATION DEGREE WAS EVALUATED BY H-NMR AND TITRATION METHOD. WATER UPTAKE, PROTON CONDUCTIVITY AND ION EXCHANGE CAPACITY (IEC) OF THE PREPARED MEMBRANE WERE DETERMINED. PROTON CONDUCTIVITY OF PRISTINE AND nanocomposite MEMBRANE IS INCREASED WITH TEMPERATURE UP TO 80OC, SUGGESTING PROTON CONDUCTIVITY IS A THERMALLY ACTIVATED PROCESS. ALL RESULTS SHOW ADDITION OF HYGROSCOPIC ZIRCONIA TO SPEEK MEMBRANE EXHIBIT INCREASED WATER RETENTION WITH GOOD PROTON CONDUCTIVITY AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES. THESE FEATURES MAKE THIS nanocomposite MEMBRANE ATTRACTIVE FOR FUEL CELL APPLICATIONS.

IN RECENT YEARS, MORE ATTENTIONS HAVE BEEN PAID FOR nanocompositeS DUE TO THE PARTICULAR CHEMICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES. THESE PRACTICAL MATERIALS ARE WIDELY EMPLOYED IN DIFFERENT SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL DOMAINS, WHICH CAUSE TO DEVELOP THE VARIOUS REACTION PATHWAYS FOR THEIR SYNTHESIS [1-2]. MIXED METAL OXIDE/CLAY COMPOUNDS ARE AN INTERESTING CLASS OF COMPOSITES BECAUSE OF LOW COST, APPLICABLE AND SIMPLICITY IN SYNTHESIS METHODS [3-4]. WE SYNTHESIZED ZrO2/ORGANOCLAY nanocomposite THROUGH REFLUX REACTION BY ADDING ZIRCONIUM SOLUTION (30% W/W) TO CLAY (0.5 G) DISPERSED IN BASIC DISTILLED WATER AND THEN, LEFT TO PERFORM THE REFLUX REACTION FOR 15 H. FINALLY, THE PREPARED PARTICIPATION WAS COLLECTED, WASHED, DRIED OVERNIGHT AND ANALYZED. THE CHARACTERIZATIONS WERE PERFORMED USING FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY (FTIR), POWDER X-RAY DIFFRACTION (XRD), SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (SEM) AND ENERGY DISPERSION OF X-RAY SPECTROMETRY (EDX). SEM IMAGES OF THE RESULTING ZrO2/CLAY INDICATED PARTICULATE MORPHOLOGY WITH THE PARTICLE SIZE OF 40 NM. XRD REFLECTION PEAKS AND EDX ANALYSIS CLEARLY REPRESENTED THE FORMATION OF ZrO2/ORGANO-CLAY nanocomposite.

THE CONJUGATED POLYMER–METAL COMPOSITES HAVE ATTRACTED MUCH ATTENTION BECAUSE OF THEIR APPLICATIONS IN CHEMICAL, PHYSICAL, MICROELECTRONICS, SUCH AS BIOMEDICINE, ELECTROMAGNETIC SHIELDING. THE PROPERTIES OF THESE SYSTEMS CAN BE EXPECTED TO BE DIFFERENT FROM THOSE OF THE CONJUGATED POLYMERS OR METAL SPECIES, BASED ON THE FACT THAT THE SMALL SIZED PARTICLES ENHANCE THE PROPERTIES WHILE THE POLYMER MATRIX OFFERS FLEXIBLE FUNCTIONALITIES. AMONG THE CONJUGATE POLYMERS, POLYPYRROLE (PPY) HAS BEEN OF PARTICULAR INTEREST BECAUSE OF ITS ENVIRONMENTAL STABILITY, CONTROLLABLE ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY, AND INTERESTING REDOX PROPERTIES [6]. Silver NANOPARTICLES HAVE APPLICATIONS IN CONDUCTIVE INKS, CATALYSIS, PHOTONICS, PHOTOGRAPHY, THICK FILM PASTES AND ADHESIVES FOR VARIOUS ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS. IN A TYPICAL EXPERIMENT (1 ML) PYRROLE MONOMER WAS ADDED TO STIRRED AQUEOUS SOLUTION (100 ML) CONTAINING 5G OF FECL3 AND 0.5G OF AG NANOPARTICLES (10-50 NM). AFTER 5HOURS, THE POLYMER WAS FILTERED, AND IN ORDER TO SEPARATE THE OLIGOMERS AND IMPURITIES, THE PRODUCT WAS WASHED SEVERAL TIMES WITH DEIONIZED WATER. IT WAS THEN DRIED AT ROOM TEMPERATURE.A NUMBER OF TECHNIQUES WERE USED TO CHARACTERIZE THE PPY/AG nanocomposite INCLUDING FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED (FTIR) AND SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (SEM). THE FIGURE 1 SHOWS OF SCANNING ELECTRON MICROGRAPH OF PPY/AG. THE FTIR SPECTRA OF PPY/AG nanocomposite ARE COMPARATIVELY SHOWN IN FIGURE 2.AS SHOWN IN SEM IMAGE (FIGURE 1), THE Silver PARTICLES (WHITE SPOTS) ARE WELL ADHERED ON THE PPY SUBSTRATE DUE TO STRONG AFFINITY OF Silver FOR NITROGEN OF PPY STRUCTURE.

CHITOSAN HAS BECOME OF GREAT INTEREST NOT ONLY AS AN UNDERUTILIZED RESOURCE, BUT ALSO AS A NEW FUNCTIONAL MATERIAL OF HIGH POTENTIAL IN VARIOUS FIELDS, AND RECENT PROGRESS IN CHITIN CHEMISTRY IS QUITE NOTEWORTHY [1]. RECENTLY, THERE HAS BEEN A GREAT INTEREST TO GENERATE ANTIBACTERIAL HYDROGELS BECAUSE OF THEIR SUPERIOR BIOMEDICAL RELEVANCE [2]. AMONG ANTIBACTERIAL HYDROGELS, INORGANIC-BASED NANO COMPOSITE HYDROGELS ARE PARTICULARLY PROMISING FOR BACTERIAL INACTIVATION APPLICATIONS IN MATERIALS AND ENGINEERING SCIENCE. Silver-BASED MATERIALS ARE OF SPECIAL INTEREST OWING TO THEIR BROAD SPECTRUM INHIBITORY AND STRONG BACTERICIDAL EFFECT [3]. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS CONTRIBUTION IS TOSYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A SERIES OF ANTIBACTERIAL CHITOSAN HYDROGELS CONTAINING Silver NANOPARTICLES. THE FORMATION OF AG NANOPARTICLES IN THE HYDROGELS WAS CONFIRMED USING XRD ANDSEM ANALYSIS. IN ADDITION, SWELLING BEHAVIOR AND THE ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITIES OF THE NANO COMPOSITE HYDROGELS WAS INVESTIGATED.

A nanocomposite CONSISTING OF POLYTHIOPHENE–Silver WAS PREPARED AND IMPLEMENTED AS ADESIRED SORBENT FOR HEADSPACE NEEDLE TRAP EXTRACTION. COLLOIDAL Silver NANOPARTICLES (AG NPS) WITH NARROW SIZE DISTRIBUTION AND HIGH STABILITY WAS SYNTHESIZED IN WATER–IN–OIL MICROEMULSION [1]. ...