Synthesis, characterization, ac conductivity and humidity sensing behaviour of polyaniline/BaFe12O19 composite embedded with silver particles

The present work is an exploration of a.c conductivity response and humidity sensing properties of IPANI/Ag/ BaFe
₁₂
O
₁₉
(PAB) composites prepared by in-situ chemical oxidative method via interfacial polymerization using (NH
₄
)
₂
S
₂
O
₈
as an oxidant at 0-3°C. A series of composites with different BaFe
₁₂
O
₁₉
wt% loadings (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 wt%) was prepared. The prepared polymer composites were characterized by FT-IR, XRD and SEM techniques. FT-IR bands in the range 375-600 cm
^-1
confirms the formation of hexagonal ferrite composite. SEM analysis clearly presented the structure of barium ferrite is hexagonal close-packed structure. The ac conductivity is found to be constant up to logarithamic frequency 4Hz and thereafter it increases steeply. The ac conductivity of 0.785Scm
^-1
at room temperature is observed as the maxima for the PAB-50wt% composite. The synthesized composites are found to be sensitive to low humidity ranging from 10% to 97 % RH, indicating promising potential applications in gas drying, safe operation of insulating gases in switchgear in power industry, production of transformer and lithium batteries.