Synthesis and microwave absorption properties of electromagnetic functionalized Fe3O4–polyaniline hollow sphere nanocomposites produced by electrostatic self-assembly
Yao-Feng Zhu
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Qing-Qing Ni
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Ya-Qin Fu
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Toshiaki Natsuki
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T. Natsuki Department of Functional Machinery and Mechanics, Shinshu University
, Tokida, Ueda 386-8576,
Japan
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Y.-F. Zhu Q.-Q. Ni (&) Y.-Q. Fu Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology Ministry of Education, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University
, Hangzhou 310018, Zhejiang,
People's Republic of China
Highly regulated Fe3O4-polyelectrolytemodified polyaniline (Fe3O4-PE@PANI) hollow sphere nanocomposites were successfully synthesized using an electrostatic self-assembly approach. The morphology and structure of the Fe3O4-PE@PANI nanocomposites were characterized using field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results showed that the as-prepared nanocomposites had well-defined sizes and shapes, and the average size is about 500 nm. The assembly process was investigated. Magnetization measurements showed that the saturation magnetization of the nanocomposites was 38.6 emu g-1. It was also found that the Fe3O4-PE@PANI nanocomposites exhibited excellent reflection loss abilities and wide response bandwidths compared with those of PANI hollow spheres in the range 0.5-15 GHz. The Fe3O4-PE@PANI nanocomposites are, therefore, promising for microwave absorption applications.
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Combinations of conducting polymers and inorganic
magnetic nanoparticles have recently attracted
significant interest because the resultant materials exhibit
both conductive and magnetic properties, and take
advantage of the properties of both conducting
polymers and inorganic nanoparticles. Electromagnetic
functionalized conducting polymer nanocomposites
have great potential for applications in
microwaveabsorbing materials, electrochemical displays,
nonlinear optics, and electromagnetic shielding (Shen et al.
2010; Zhou et al. 2011; Kang et al. 1998; Kawaguchi
2000; Gomez-Romero 2001; Zhang and Wan 2003;
Marchessault et al. 1992; Fang et al. 2011). Interest in
the design and controlled fabrication of materials with
specific conducting and magnetic properties,
therefore, continues to grow. Polyaniline (PANI), which is
an excellent conducting polymer, has been known for
more than a century and studied in many fields because
of its excellent environmental stability and ease of
doping (MacDiarmid 2001). Particularly, PANI-based
nanocomposite, the most important material for the
twenty-first century, has received special attention
owing to their potential wide applications arising from
the unique nanofiller-introduced thermal stability,
electrochemical, mechanical, magnetic, and dielectric
properties (Zhang et al. 2013). For example,
grapheme/PANI (Wei et al. 2012a, b), BaTiO3/PANI
(Zhang et al. 2013; Zhu et al. 2013), and multi-walled
carbon nanotube/PANI (Wei et al. 2013; Gu et al.
2013) for supercapacitors, stealth materials, and
environmental remediations have been recently
explored and investigated (Wei et al. 2012a, b).
As magnetic nanoparticles, magnetite (Fe3O4)
nanoparticles are mostly investigated among the many
magnetic materials owing to their interesting magnetic
properties and are easy to synthesize, and have a wide
range of potential applications in various fields, such
as magnetic recording media, photonic crystals,
microwave-absorbing materials, and biomedical
applications (Wei et al. 2012a, b; Umare et al. 2010;
Zhang et al. 2011; Kim et al. 2008). Recently, various
Fe3O4PANI micro/nanostructures have been the
focus of research because their properties are different
from those of the corresponding bulk forms.
Shapecontrolled synthesis of Fe3O4PANI nanocomposites
with desired morphologies is, therefore, a hot research
topic. Conducting polymer hollow spheres have
potential applications in reactors, catalysts, sensors,
carriers, combinatorial analytics, and photochemistry
(Meier 2000; Shchukin and Sukhorukov 2004;
Peyratout and Dahne 2004), and are also promising as ideal
microwave resonators because of their special
structures, low densities, and light weights. The
development of microwave absorbers has been an important
technology for eliminating electromagnetic wave
pollution. Recently, the demand for various
microwave absorbers for commercial and military
applications has increased. The preparation of Fe3O4PANI
hollow sphere nanocomposites for use as microwave
absorbers is, therefore, of interest.
In the past few decades, various techniques have
been developed for the fabrication of PANI and
magnetic nanocomposites, mainly by in situ synthesis
of a conjugated polymer via oxidative (Deng et al.
2003) and electrochemical oxidation polymerizations
(Bidan et al. 1994). However, most electromagnetic
functionalized nanocomposites prepared by these
processes typically produce an uncontrolled structure
and unpredictable material properties. It is, therefore,
important (...truncated)