Fe3O4/Polypyrrole/Au nanocomposites with core/shell/shell structure: synthesis, characterization, and their electrochemical properties

Uniform Fe3O4 nanospheres with a diameter of 100 nm were rapidly prepared using a microwave solvothermal method. Then Fe304/polypyrrole (PPy) composite nanospheres with well-defined core/shell structures were obtained through chemical oxidative polymerization of pyrrole in the presence of Fe3O4; the average thickness of the coating shell was about 25 nm. Furthermore, by means of electrostatic interactions, plentiful gold nanoparticles with a diameter of 15 nm were assembled on the surface of Fe3O4/PPy to get Fe3O4/PPy/Au core/shell/shell structure. The morphology, structure, and composition of the products were characterized by transmission electronic microscopy (TEM), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The resultant nanocomposites not only have the magnetism of Fe3O4 nanoparticles that make the nanocomposites easily controlled by an external magnetic field but also have the good conductivity and excellent electrochemical and catalytic properties of PPy and Au nanoparticles. Furthermore, the nanocomposites showed excellent electrocatalytic activities to biospecies such as ascorbic acid (AA).