The practical application of polyaniline-poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PANI-PSS) composite particles has been held back by the low stability of their dispersed state in water. In this work, we present a general oxidation approach to prepare PANI-PSS composite nanoparticles that can form highly stable colloids in water or buffer over a wide range of pH from 1 to 11. We demonstrate that the size of the PANI-PSS composite particles can be controlled by the acidity of precursor solutions. It is hypothesized that the number of negatively charged sites on PSS, which can be affected by the acidity of the precursor solutions, plays an important role in determining the size of the PANI-PSS composite particles and the stability of corresponding colloids in water. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.