Preparation and conductivities of polyacrylic acid/polyvinylimidazole grafted and ungrafted iron oxide nanocomposite polymer electrolytes

Nanocomposites of Polyacrylic acid/polyvinylimidazole (PAA/PVI) with grafted and ungrafted iron oxide nanoparticles were prepared by a Reflux method. The Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles with 10 nm average diameter were synthesized by controlled co-precipitation and silanization of Si-PVI on Fe₃O₄ was used to obtain the grafted ones. Grafting becomes important at composites of less PVI that cause drastic decreases in AC conductivity. The content of PVI has important effects on the conductivity mechanism of these composites. The effect of grafting and Polyacrylic acid/polyvinylimidazole molar ratio on the conduction mechanism were studied. The conduction mechanism of iron oxide nanocomposites can be adjusted by changing molar ratio of Polyacrylic acid/polyvinylimidazole and grafting of Fe₃O₄ NPs.