Synthesis, characterization, luminescence and magnetic properties of composite of polyaniline with nickel bisacetylacetonate complex

Abstract

The present study involves the synthesis of polyaniline (PANI) and its composite with nickel bis(acetylacetonate) complex (Ni(acac)2) via chemical oxidative polymerization method. PANI-Ni(acac)2 composite was characterized by energy dispersive X-rays (EDX), fourier transformer infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques. Luminescence study was performed by UV–visible and fluorescence techniques. Relative fluorescence quantum yield of composite is a few orders of magnitude higher than pure PANI. The high fluorescence quantum yield of composite is probably due to greater chances of exciton formation and subsequent radiative decay to the ground state. Differential scanning calorimetric analysis (DSC) revealed higher thermal stability of composite than pure PANI, thereby allowing its use in devices which run at higher temperatures. On increasing the applied magnetic field, magnetic moment increases in both Ni(acac)2 complex and PANI-Ni(acac)2 composite, unlike to that in pure PANI. Thus, the present study holds promise for thermal purposes, luminescence properties and magnetic applications of the polyaniline composite.