Regular Article

Nickel oxide/cobalt phthalocyanine nanocomposite for potential electronics applications

¹ Department of Physics, M.E.S. Asmabi College, P. Vemballur 680671, Kerala, India
² Department of Physics, Newman College, Thodupuzha 685584, Kerala, India
³ Nanoscience research centre (NSRC), Department of Physics, Nirmala College, Muvattupuzha 686661, Kerala, India
⁴ Department of Applied Science and Humanities, Thejus Engineering College, Thrissur 680584, Kerala, India
⁵ Department of Physics, Maharajas College, Ernakulam, Kerala 682011, Kerala, India

^a e-mail: ptvarghese07@yahoo.co.in

Received: 23 April 2018
Received in final form: 30 September 2018
Published online: 16 January 2019

Abstract

The effect of cobalt phthalocyanine on the dielectric behaviour and ac conductivity of nickel oxide nanoparticles is reported in this study. Solvent evaporation method is employed for the synthesis of nickel oxide/cobalt phthalocyanine (NiO–CoPc) nanocomposite. The structure and morphology of the synthesized nanocomposites are analysed using XRD and TEM. Dielectric properties and ac conductivity of NiO/CoPc sample is estimated as a function of frequency at different temperatures. The study reveals that the dispersion is due to interfacial polarization of Maxwell–Wagner type. The loss tangent in the low frequency region can be considerably reduced with the incorporation of CoPc. The presence of two semicircular arcs in the Cole–Cole plot points out the existence of grain and grain boundary conduction in the nanocomposite sample. High permittivity together with good thermal stability makes NiO/CoPc nanocomposite a potential candidate for applications in molecular electronics.