Composites of polypyrrole with conducting and ferromagnetic behaviors

Composites of polypyrrole (PPy) with electrical and ferromagnetic behaviors were synthesized by a chemical method in the presence of p-dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid sodium salt (NaDS) as a surfactant and dopant. The magnetic properties of the resulting composites showed ferromagnetic behavior, such as high saturated magnetization (Ms = 3.06–43.7 emu/g), and coercive force (Hc = 9–57 Oe). The saturated magnetization linearly increased with increases in the Fe content. No influence of the counterion on this relationship was observed. The conductivity of the composites at room temperature depended on the counterion and doping degree. The highest conductivity of 100 S/cm was achieved under the optimal synthetic conditions. A structural characterization by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared, and X-ray diffraction proved that nanometer-sized (16–20-nm) iron oxide (Fe3O4) in the composites was responsible for the ferromagnetic behavior of the composites, whereas the high conductivity of the composites contributed to the difficult deprotonation of the doping PPy with DS− counterion in a basic reaction medium. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 2734–2739, 2000