Structural, morphological, and electrical properties of polyaniline-Fe2O3 nanocomposites

Nanocomposites of polyaniline with Fe2O3 particles have been synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization method by increasing the weight percentage of Fe2O3. The powder X-ray diffraction technique was employed to study the structure and crystallinity of the synthesized nanocomposites. The strong interaction of polyaniline with Fe2O3 particles was confirmed using FTIR technique. It was shown that polyaniline is dispersed into Fe2O3 particles successfully by in situ polymerization and therefore the degree of crystallinity increased due to crystalline structure of Fe2O3 particles. According to SEM and TEM data, most of Fe2O3 particles were coated with polyaniline and those nanocomposites have formed a network during the polymerization process as well. Electrical conductivity of polyaniline containing 5 wt % of Fe2O3 was higher among all other composites and even than PANI.