Structuring, morphology, and thermomechanical properties of nanocomposites formed from ternary polyelectrolyte-metal complexes based on pectin, polyethyleneimine, and CuSO4

The structures and properties of ternary polyelectrolyte-metal complexes obtained from a stoichiometric polyelectrolyte complex based on the weak polyelectrolytes pectin and polyethyleneimine and the salt CuSO4 and from nanocomposites formed on their basis have been studied with the use of a range of structural techniques and thermomechanical analysis. Nanocomposites based on the stoichiometric polyelectrolyte complex and Cu/Cu2O nanoparticles are formed as a result of the chemical reduction of Cu2+ cations by NaBH4 in the ternary metal-polyelectrolyte complexes, and the full structural appearance of the metal Cu phase is observed at a BH4−-to-Cu2+ molar ratio of 6. The chemical reduction of Cu2+ cations is shown to occur with the formation of the nanocomposite with nanoparticles of only the metallic Cu phase in ternary polyelectrolyte-metal complexes subjected to a constant magnetic field.