Nanostructure cobalt oxide reinforced conductive and magnetic polyaniline nanocomposites

Nanocrystalline cobalt oxide (Co3O4) was synthesized by sol-gel method using cobalt chloride as precursor. Conducting polyaniline-cobalt oxide (PANI/Co3O4) nanocomposites were synthesized by in situ polymerization of aniline (monomer) in the presence of as-synthesized nanocrystalline Co3O4. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by XRD, FTIR, UV-VIS and TEM analysis. TEM images show that PANI has been coated on nanocrystalline Co3O4, which confirms the formation of nanocomposites. XRD pattern show that nanocrystalline Co3O4 embedded into polycrystalline PANI to form crystalline nanocomposites. Fourier transform infrared and ultraviolet visible spectroscopy show that cobalt oxide nanoparticles get electrostatically bound to the specific sites of polyaniline. PANI/Co3O4 nanocomposites show semiconducting behavior as that of conducting polyaniline. In this article, the influence of filler concentration on the transport parameters and magnetic properties of polyaniline nanocomposites has been investigated.