title: Giant magnetoresistance in non-magnetic phosphoric acid doped polyaniline silicon nanocomposites with higher magnetic field sensing sensitivity.
abstract: Phosphoric acid doped conductive polyaniline (PANI) polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) reinforced with silicon nanopowders have been successfully synthesized using a facile surface initiated polymerization (SIP) method. The chemical structures of the nanocomposites are characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The enhanced thermal stability of the silicon-PANI PNCs compared with pure PANI is obtained using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The obtained optical band gap of the PNCs using Ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS) decreases with increasing silicon loading. The dielectric properties of the PNCs are strongly related to the silicon loading level. Temperature dependent resistivity analysis reveals a quasi 3-D variable range hopping (VRH) electrical conduction mechanism for the synthesized PNCs. Room temperature giant magnetoresistance (GMR) is observed in the synthesized non-magnetic nanocomposites and analyzed using the wave-function shrinkage model.
authors.affiliation: Integrated Composites Lab (ICL), Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical Engineering, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX 77710, USA.
authors.forename: Hongbo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Huige
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Yudong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Cunyu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Qingliu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Neel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Haldolaarachchige
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Suying
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Zhanhu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Guo