Composites of Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) and CoFe2O4 Nanoparticles: Composition Influence on Structural, Electrical, and Magnetic Properties

Composites of magnetic CoFe2O4 nanoparticles (MNP) in a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) matrix at different ratios have been synthesized. Composites were characterized by electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, electrical conductivity, magnetization, and magnetoresistance studies. In the composites the MNP appear clustered, with an interparticle distance essentially constant, but where two regimes are distinguished for cluster separation: for high MNP concentrations an intercluster separation similar to the interparticle distance is found, while for low MNP contents the distance between clusters is larger than the interparticle separation. The electrical conductivity increases with polymer content, but being always far lower than general effective medium theory expectations. This indicates that the effect of MNP effect on polymer conduction is probably related to the generation of mechanical stress both by introducing additional scattering centers and by producing different arrangement of the polymer chains, compared with the pure PEDOT. The magnetization studies reveal the existence of the RKKY interaction, which couples ferromagnetically the MNP located in a cluster, while the dipolar interaction dominates the interaction between clusters. Magnetoresistance was studied for these composites, with a maximum value close to 0.7% at 0.7 T for the lowest polymer content. The magnetoresistance correlates very well with the reversible part of the magnetization, indicating that its possible origin should be associated with polymer mechanical deformation due to the magnetic-field-induced rotation of the MNP.