Synthesis, structural, morphological, compositional and electrical transport properties of polyaniline/α-Fe2O3 hybrid nanocomposites

Polyaniline (PAni) have been successively synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline using ammonium peroxidisulphate [(NH4)(2)S2O8] as an oxidant in an aqueous solution of 1 M hydrochloric acid (HCl) as a dopant. Sol gel method was employed for the formation of alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles (NP's). PAni/ alpha-Fe2O3 hybrid nanocomposites were prepared by solid state synthesis method by considering PAni as the host matrix. In the hybrid nanocomposite, alpha-Fe2O3 content was varied from 10 to 50 wt% in the PAni matrix. Films of PAni/ alpha-Fe2O3 (10-50%) hybrid nanocomposites were prepared by simple and inexpensive drop casting method on the glass substrates and characterized by using various techniques viz. XRD, FTIR, FESEM, AFM, contact angle measurement, UV-vis spectroscopy, XPS and two probe technique. The results of XRD, FTIR, FESEM, AFM, UV-vis spectroscopy and XPS techniques demonstrate that, the strong interaction between PAni and alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles. Surface wettability is studied by using double-distilled water drops for contact angle measurements. Electrical transport studies on hybrid nanocomposite revealed that the dc electrical conductivity of PAni decreases as content of alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles increases. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.