Poly(vinyl phosphonic acid) (PVPA)-BaFe12O19 Nanocomposite

Abstract

We present a method for the fabrication of PVPA/BaFe12O19 nanocomposite by in-situ polymerization of vinyl phosphonic acid, VPA in the presence of synthesized BaFe12O19 NPs. Nanoparticles and the nanocomposite were analyzed by XRD, FTIR, TGA, SEM, TEM, VSM, and conductivity techniques for structural and physicochemical characteristics. Nanoparticles, identified as BaFe12O19 from XRD analysis, were successfully coated with PVPA and the linkage was assessed to be via P-O bonds. Electron microscopy analysis revealed aggregation of BaFe12O19 particles and dominantly platelet morphology upon composite formation. TGA analysis revealed the composition of the nanocomposite as 65% BaFe12O19 and 35% polymer. Magnetic evaluation revealed that adsorption of PVPA anions during the preparation of the nanocomposite strongly influenced the magnetic properties resulting in much lower saturation magnetization values. DC conductivity measurements were used to calculate activation energy of PVPA/BaFe12O19 nanocomposite and it was obtained as 0.37 eV.