Conjugated polymer nanocomposites: Synthesis, dielectric, and microwave absorption studies

Nanocomposites of polyaniline with barium ferrite and titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) are synthesized via in situ emulsion polymerization. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution TEM result shows the formation of array of nanoparticles encapsulated within the polymer chains during the synthesis process. The high value of microwave absorption, 58 dB (>99.999% attenuation) results from the combined effect of the nanoparticles and the polymer matrix. The amount of barium ferrite has the profound effect on permittivity (epsilon), permeability (mu), and microwave absorption of the nanocomposite. The contribution to the absorption value comes mainly due the magnetic losses (mu '') in barium ferrite and dielectric losses (epsilon '') in TiO(2) and polyaniline. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3200958]