Mossbauer Characterization of Magnetite/Polyaniline Magnetic Nanocomposite

Aniline surface coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized by UV irradiation varying the time and the acid media (HCl, HNO3, or H2SO4). The synthesized material represents a promising platform for application in nerve regeneration. XRD patterns are consistent with the crystalline structure of magnetite. Nevertheless, for UV irradiation times longer than 2 h, extra XRD lines reveal the presence of goethite. The mean crystallite size of uncoated particles is estimated to be 25.4 nm, meanwhile that size is reduced to 19.9 nm for the UV irradiated sample in HCl medium for 4 h. Mossbauer spectra of uncoated nanoparticles reveal the occurrence of thermal relaxation at room temperature, while the 77K-Mossbauer spectrum suggests the occurrence of electron localization effects similar to that expected in bulk magnetite. The Mossbauer spectra of UV irradiated sample in HCl medium during 4h, confirms the presence of the goethite phase. For this sample, the thermal relaxation is more evident, since the room temperature spectrum shows larger spectral area for the nonmagnetic component due to the smaller crystallite size. Meanwhile, the 77K-Mossbauer spectrum suggests the absence of the electron localization effect above 77K.