Increasing the high-frequency magnetic permeability of MnZn ferrite in polyaniline composites by incorporating silver

A hybrid composite containing 73 vol% of MnZn ferrite, 21 vol% of polyaniline, and 6 vol% of silver is obtained by oxidative polymerization of aniline with silver nitrate in the presence of ferrite powder. The hybrid composite contains ferrite particles with a size of 40–80 μm coated by an inhomogeneous layer of polyaniline in the conducting emeraldine form. Silver in the form of nano- and submicrometre -size particles is localized both on the surface of ferrite particles and in the bulk of polyaniline coating. The electrical and magnetic properties of the hybrid composite are investigated and compared with the properties of a composite with 71 vol% of MnZn ferrite coated by a conducting polyaniline layer (29 vol%). The hybrid composite containing silver exhibits an increase in the real and imaginary parts of the complex permeability in the radio-frequency band by more than one and a half times compared with those of the MnZn ferrite−polyaniline composite. The high-frequency permittivity of both composites is determined by the properties of core−shell structure: electric properties of shell as well as its composition and uniformity.

► Multicomponent particles of MnZn ferrite with conductive polyaniline/silver overlayer were prepared by oxidative polymerization of aniline.
► Hybrid composite with these particles exhibits enhanced high-frequency complex permeability compared to MnZn−polyaniline composite.
► It is proposed that permeability increases due to the growth of exchange energy in a thin surface layer of ferrite.