Synthesis and Structural Characterisation of Polyaniline (PANI)- Iron oxide (Fe2O3), nanocomposites for Optoelectronics application

Abstract

In this investigation, polyaniline (PANI), Iron oxide (Fe₂O₃) nanoparticles and polyaniline- Fe₂O₃ nanocomposites were successfully synthesized by chemically oxidative polymerization of aniline in the presence of hydrochloric acid using ammonium persulfate as an oxidizing agent. The purpose of this study is to synthesize and investigate polyaniline/ iron oxide  nanocomposite for optoelectronics  application. The synthesized nanocomposite was characterized to ascertain possible applications of the nanocomposite. The x- ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was carried out using x-ray diffraction machine. The results of the structural analysis showed that the formed polyaniline is a polymer with peak  at .  X – ray diffraction pattern of iron oxide nanoparticles shows that the fabricated iron oxide nanoparticles are of rhombohedral phase of iron oxide with mineral name Hematite and corresponding to JCPDS file number (00 – 033 – 0664). Two theta angles of , ,  and  were obtained corresponding to miller indices of [104], [110], [116] and [300] respectively. The average crystallite size of    was obtained for Fe₂O₃. PANI/Fe₂O₃ nanocomposites formed have structural phase of iron oxide hydroxide with mineral name Goethite belonging to Orthorhombic crystal structure with space group Pbnm and JCPDS file number (00 – 029 – 0713). Average crystallite sizes of , ,  and  were obtained for different Fe₂O₃ compositions of polyaniline matrix.These results obtained suggest the possibility of using the material in optoelectronics devices like LEDs, solar cells, transducers, and photodetectors.