Magnetic and electrochemical properties of PANI-CoFe2O4 nanocomposites synthesized via a novel one-step solvothermal method

In this study, a novel one-step solvothermal method was carried out to synthesize a series of polyaniline-cobalt ferrite nanocomposites (PANI-CoFe2O4) with different contents of PANI. The structure, morphological, magnetic and electrochemical properties of the as-prepared PANI-CoFe2O4 (PANI-CF) samples were characterized by various techniques. The results of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (IR) indicated the successful synthesis of PANI-CF nanocomposite materials with the component CoFe2O4 showing spinel structure and the size of the composite material was less than 20 nm. Their magnetic properties were remarkably superior to pure CoFe2O4, ascribed to good crystalline of CoFe2O4, nanoscale composite and strong interaction between CoFe2O4 and PANI, and induced magnetic field from the directional movement of p-electrons of PANI under applied magnetic field. Otherwise, these composite materials showed good electrochemical behavior, indicating that they were doped by Fe3+/Co2+ ions and doping metallic ions into PANI could also improve its electrochemical performance. c 2015 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.