Conducting ferromagnetic copolymer of aniline and 3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene containing nanocrystalline barium ferrite particles

This article reports the synthesis of conducting ferromagnetic complex of 3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) and aniline (An) containing M‐type hexagonal barium ferrite (BaFe₁₂O₁₉) particles using in situ emulsion polymerization and electrochemical oxidative polymerization. Magnetic and conductivity studies reveal that the conducting ferromagnetic complex possesses high‐saturation magnetization (M_s) value of 29.2 emu/g and conductivity of the order of 0.256 S/cm determined through vibrating sample magnetometer and four‐probe method. Microwave measurement has shown the reflection loss (R_L) of ?12.1 dB in Ku‐band that can be used as a microwave absorbing material. The polymer complex was further characterized by techniques like X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, UV–visible, cyclic voltammetry, and thermal analysis with thermogravimetric analysis. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2008