Structural, optical and dielectric properties of polyaniline-Nio.5 Zno.5Fe2O4 nano-composites

Abstract Ni o.5 Zn o.5 Fe 2 O 4 spinel ferrite was prepared by sol gel method. In situ polymerization method was used to synthesize polyaniline-Ni o.5 Zn o.5 Fe 2 O 4 nano-composites having general formula (1-x)ferrite+(x)PANI where x = 0,0.3,0.5,1 (CP,CP1,CP2 and PANI). The effect of structural, optical and dielectric properties of the PANI- Ni o.5 Zn o.5 F 2 O 4 nano-composites were investigated. XRD analysis confirmed that the Ni o.5 Zn o.5 Fe 2 O 4 particles were successfully dispersed in the PANI matrix with single phase structure. The crystallite size of nano-composites increased with increasing spinel ferrite contents in the PANI matrix due to amorphous structure of PANI. Optical band gaps was calculated by using Tauc relation which found that optical band gradually decreases with the increasing amount of Ni o.5 Zn o.5 Fe 2 O 4 in PANI. The dielectric constants ( e ′ , e ′ ′ ), dielectric loss (tanδ) and AC conductivity (Ϭ ac ) were explained as a function of frequency (1 kHz to 1 MHz) which is described by Maxwell Wagner Model. The spinel ferrite-PANI composite are valuable as microwave absorbers because of their low cost, light weight and flexibility.