Synthesis, morphology and electrochemical applications of iron oxide based nanocomposites

The development of hybrid systems comprising nanoparticles and polymers is an opening pathway for engineering nanocomposites exhibiting outstanding mechanical, optical, electrical, and magnetic properties. Among inorganic counterpart, iron oxide nanoparticles (IONP) exhibit high magnetization, controllable surface chemistry, spintronic properties, and biological compatibility. These characteristics enable them as a platform for biomedical applications and building blocks for bottom-up approaches, such as the layer-by-layer (LbL). In this regard, the present study is addressed to investigate IONP synthesised through co-precipitation route (average diameter around 7 nm), with either positive or negative surface charges, LbL assembled with sodium sulfonated polystyrene (PSS) or polyaniline (PANI). The surface and internal morphologies, and electrochemical properties of these nanocomposites were probed with atomic force microscopy, UV-vis and Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, and electrochemical measurements. The nanocomposites display a globular morphology with IONP densely packed while surface dressed by polyelectrolytes. The investigation of the effect of thermal annealing (300 up to 600