3. Results and discussion
3.1. Surface morphology
In this study, a scanning electron microscope was used to characterize
the surface of PPy nanocomposites at very high magnification
at an accelerating voltage of 15 kV. Samples were
coated with gold by a sputter coater to improve the quality
of micrograph. The thickness of the coating was 35 nm. The
morphology of rice husk ash before and after coating with
PPy is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. The coating of RHA has
always been found to be uniform, while coating defects have
been suspected in the case of RHA at low PPy contents.
Fig. 3 shows the TEM images of PPy/RHA nanocomposites
for 100 nm. It is found that presence of black spots indicates
the presence of PPy nanoparticles into rice husk ash matrix
without any aggregation. The average particle size of PPy
nanoparticles from TEM images is 35–40 nm.
3.2. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy
The chemical structures of the obtained products were determined
by FTIR analyzer in the wave number range of 400–
4000 cm
1, and samples for FTIR spectroscopic characterization
were prepared by grinding the dry blends with KBr and
compressing the mixtures to form sheet. The FTIR spectra
analysis has been done to identify the characteristic peaks of
product. Comparison between a and b be introduced at
Fig. 4. As can be seen in Fig. 4, one characteristic of the