Investigating and characterizing electrical properties of polypyrrole/SiO₂/FePS₃ nanocomposite

Abstract

Novel nanocomposites of polypyrrole (PPy) embedded in silica (SiO2) and iron phosphorus trisulphide (FePS3) nanoparticles have been fabricated. The nanocomposite's dielectric characteristics have been examined in relation to temperature ranges of 25–200°C and frequency ranges of 0.1–7 MHz. Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), x‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM–EDX), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and dielectric measurements have all been used to evaluate the prepared nanocomposite. The monoclinic crystal structure of the prepared FePS3 and PPy/SiO2/FePS3 nanocomposite is confirmed by XRD, EDX, and TEM studies. The FePS3 is perfectly layered structure in the SEM image, and FePS3 and SiO2 particles are well intercalated, creating novel nanocomposites of two nanoparticle phases that served as a union network during the polymerization process. The IR spectrum shows that PPy is a dopant in the interlayer area of FePS3. The splitting major peak (570 cm−1) of FePS3 is visible at around 640 and 560 cm−1. The high AC conductivity values indicated that the combination of FePS3/SiO2 nano‐matrix contains PPy at high packing densities and confirming the semiconducting properties of the nanocomposite to be used in several electronic applications.