The enhancement of the oxidation resistance of carbonyl iron by polyaniline coating and consequent changes in electromagnetic properties

In order to enhance the stability of commercially unmodified processed carbonyl iron (CI) and to prevent corrosion, CI powders were coated with polyaniline (PANI) by using surfactant-stabilized PANI colloids in chloroform. PANI coats the individual particles with a film of a few micrometres thickness. Electromagnetic properties, as well as thermal and storage stability, of polymer composites filled with pristine and PANI-coated CI have been studied. The PANI overlayer has negligible influence on the magnetic and dielectric spectra of CI-filled polymer composites at ambient temperature. However, the temperature-frequency study of complex permittivity demonstrated that the composites containing PANI-coated CI powders are characterized by temperature-independent dielectric spectra, whereas the complex permittivity of polymer composites with pristine powders drastically decreased at elevated temperature. Additionally, the thermogravimetric analysis of pristine and PANI-coated CI powders in air has shown improvement in the stability. PANI overlayer prevents the oxidation of particles and acts as corrosion protection of CI.