Synthesis, characterization, interfacial interactions, and properties of reduced graphene oxide/Fe₃O₄/polyaniline nanocomposites

In this study, a ternary reduced graphene oxide/Fe₃O₄/polyaniline (PANI) (GMP) nanostructure is designed and synthesized via a facile two‐step approach, including synthesis of reduced graphene oxide/Fe₃O₄ (GM) using solvothermal method and in situ polymerization of PANI on the surface of GM. The structure and morphological of the as‐prepared samples was characterized by X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, UV–vis spectra and Transmission Electron Microscope. The results indicated the successful synthesis of GMP composite materials with the Fe₃O₄ (<30 nm) loaded on the rGO, whose surface covered with PANI. The magnetic properties, redox activity and microwave absorption properties were characterized by vibrating sample magnetometer, cyclic voltammetry, and vector network analyzer. The magnetic properties of GMP composite exhibit superparamagnetic property with a saturation magnetization of 22.88 emu/g. The redox activity of GMP expanding to neutral environment is caused by the interfacial electron transport interaction. The microwave absorption performance of GMP is up to −28.2 dB at 14.4 GHz and the absorption bandwidths below −10 dB are 5.4 GHz (from 12.6 to 18 GHz) with a thickness of 2 mm. This can be attributed to its well‐organized nanoscale morphology, which bringing the impedance matching of the individual components of GMP. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:E1111–E1119, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers