Preparation of magnetic ferrite-polymer nanocomposite modified with porphyrin

Spinel ferrite nanoparticles are very important materials because of their interesting magnetic and electrical properties with good chemical and thermal stabilities [1]. In recent years, a great deal of studies has been devoted to polyaniline due to its unique properties, high environmental stability, easy polymerization and low cost of monomer [2]. Furthermore, porphyrin derivatives are the most promising sensitizers due to their high absorption coefficient within the solar spectrum, non-poisonous nature of porphyrin and compatibility with the environment [3, 4]. In this regard, synthesis of nanocomposite based on copper ferrite, polyaniline and porphyrin is an ideal approach for preparation of well performing and readily separable nanocomposite. In this work, copper ferrite magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized via solvothermal synthetic route. Copper ferrite-polyaniline magnetic nanocomposite was prepared by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline in the presence of ferrite particles. In the next stage, copper ferrite which coated with polyaniline was successfully modified with tetrakis (4-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin. FT-IR spectra, XRD patterns, UV-Vis spectra, VSM curves, TGA/DTA analysis, EDS test, SEM images confirmed the architecture of the prepared nanocomposite. The magnetic saturation (Ms) values of CuFe2O4, CuFe2O4@PANI and TCPP/CuFe2O4@PANI, determined from the hysteresis loops measurements were 96, 27 and 15 emu/g, respectively. The VSM magnetization curves of the samples were displayed in Fig. 1. Due to the excellent magnetic properties of the prepared samples, the nanocomposite could be easily separated by an external magnetic field.