Preparation of metal-polymer composites through the thermolysis of Fe(II), Co(II), and Ni(II) maleates

Metal-polymer composites have been prepared through the thermolysis of the [M-1(H2O)(2)(C4H2O4)] center dot H2O (M-1 = Co(II), Ni(II)) neutral maleates and [M-2(H2O)(4)(C4H3O4)(2)] (M-2 = Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II)) acid maleates. In the polymer matrix of the Fe-containing composite, we identified metal, Fe2O3, and Fe3O4 particles, with slight densification of the matrix around them. The polymer matrix of the cobalt maleate-derived composite contained four types of nanoparticles: alpha-Co, beta-Co, and CoO in polymer shells and Co3O4 with no polymer shell. The decomposition of the nickel maleates yielded homogeneous nickel nanoparticles (4-5 nm) covered with two to five graphene layers. The Co-containing composite was found to be a dielectric. The Ni-containing composite exhibited variable range hopping conduction in the range T a parts per thousand currency sign 50 K.