Preparation of Nd-doped manganese–zinc–ferrite/polyaniline composite materials

Abstract

Mn0·4Zn0·6NdxFe2–xO4/polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposites with magnetic properties were prepared by in situ polymerisation of aniline in the presence of Mn0·4Zn0·6NdxFe2–xO4 nanoparticles. The structure and morphologies of nanocomposites were characterised by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the size of Mn0·4Zn0·6NdxFe2–xO4 nanocomposites increases with the increase in the Nd doped amount. The optimum doped amount of Nd was 0·075, and the optimum calcination temperature was 850°C. The ferrite particles are well embedded in PANI chains. The FTIR results further prove that the Nd doped manganese–zinc–ferrite/PANI composites have been synthesised. Images (TEM) showed that the nanocomposites presented a spherical structure with a magnetic core of Mn0·4Zn0·6NdxFe2–xO4 and a conducting shell of PANI. The results showed that the electromagnetic properties of the Mn0·4Zn0·6NdxFe2–xO4/PANI composites were related to the mass ratio of PANI, the amount of Nd, the calcination temperature and the precipitation time.