Conductive thin films based on poly (aniline-co-o-anthranilic acid)/magnetite nanocomposite for photovoltaic applications

•Fe3O4 in nanoscale were coated with various amounts of PANAA copolymer.•Surface initiated polymerization method was used for copolymer preparation.•Magnetite nanoparticles enhanced the thermal strength of the nanocomposites.•Thin films of the nanocomposite were fabricated by thermal evaporation technique.•The conductivity value ranged from 3.73 to 26.98 Ω−1 cm−1 at a photon energy 3.65 eV..

In this research, magnetite particles in a nanoscale were coated with three various weight percentages of poly (aniline co-o-anthranilic acid) copolymer. Aniline and o-anthranilic acid monomers were copolymerized in the presence of Fe3O4 nanoparticles via surface initiated polymerization method. Characterization of nanocomposites was carried out by several analysis techniques including; FT-IR, FE-SEM, TEM, XRD, TGA and UV-vis-Near infrared. FT-IR results showed that pended COOH groups of PANAA are physically interacted to magnetite nanoparticles. Magnetite nanoparticles enhanced the thermal strength of the nanocomposites in the range of 300-800 °C. The XRD analysis revealed that the average crystallite size ranges from 7.59 to 11.14 nm depending on PANAA weight percentage. Thin films of uniform spherical shape of PANAA/magnetite nanocomposite were fabricated by thermal evaporation technique. The values of Eg(direct) and Eg(indirect) decreased with increasing the thickness of PANAA, while the conductivity increased with increasing of PANAA thickness coated magnetite particles. The conductivity value ranged from 3.73 to 26.98 Ω−1 cm−1 at a photon energy 3.65 eV. Using the nanocomposites in photovoltaic applications was highlighted.