Preparation of nanocomposites of polyaniline and inorganic semiconductors

Nanocomposites of polyaniline (PANI) and the semiconducting metal sulfides CdS and Cu2S were prepared from the respective metal trifluoromethanesulfonates co-dissolved in N-methylpyrrolidone. Metal sulfide particles with typical diameters of 1–2 nm formed in situ upon addition of Li2S; the nanocomposites were subsequently isolated by co-precipitation. UV/VIS absorption spectra suggest that the PANI–CdS nanocomposites are stable in the air, while PANI was found to degrade in the presence of Cu2S. Appreciable photovoltaic effects were measured on multilayer devices based on Al/nanocomposite/Cd1 − xZnxO and Al/nanocomposite/C60/Cd1 − xZnxO. In the absence of the C60 layer, both open circuit photovoltage (Uoc) and short circuit photocurrent (Isc) were found to increase substantially with increasing CdS content, while in the presence of a C60 layer, more complex behavior was observed.