Core-shell attapulgite@polypyrrole composite with well-defined corn cob-like morphology via self-assembling and in situ oxidative polymerization

Conductive polypyrrole (PPy) layer was chemically grafted from the self-assembled monolayer (SAM) coated on ATP, resulting in SAM-ATP@PPy composites after attapulgite (ATP) particles were surface modified. The composites possess high electrical conductivity at room temperature, weakly temperature dependence of the conductivity. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed that the main peaks of SAM-ATP@PPy composites are similar to the SAM-ATP particles, which reveal that the crystal structure of SAM-ATP is well-maintained after the coating process under polymerization conditions and exhibit semi-crystalline behavior. Thermogravimetric analysis shows that the thermal stability of SAM-ATP@PPy composites was enhanced and these can be attributed to the retardation effect of amine-functionalized ATP as barriers for the degradation of PPy. The morphology of SAM-ATP@PPy composites showed the fibrillar structure and well-defined corn cob-like morphology.