Structural characterization of magnetite-graphene nanocomposites

Phase change materials (PCM) development for thermal energy storage has focused on improving heat transfer. As a supporting material for PCM, graphene which has a high thermal conductivity value combined with Fe3O4 material can increase heat transfer. However, the phase formation and crystal structure of the Fe3O4−graphene composite are also important points that need to be studied. In this paper, we report the characterization of the crystal structure of the Fe3O4− graphene composite due to the effect of the addition of graphene. Fe3O4-graphene nanocomposite was prepared by the chemical co-precipitation method. Herein, Fe3O4 used is derived from the synthesis of iron sand and graphene from reduced graphene oxide which has been reported in our previous study. The structure of the Fe3O4-graphene nanocomposite was studied by treating it with different graphene content of 0.2-1.4%. Structural investigations were obtained from XRD and FT-IR. The XRD results showed a suitable XRD pattern only at 0.2 and 0.6% Graphene content, while above 0.6% graphene content indicated the α-FeOOH phase. The results of the FT-IR test show that the presence of C=C aromatic bonds and hydrogen bonds in the graphene plane characterizes the merging of graphene with Fe3O4. Based on the characterization results, Fe3O4−graphene nanocomposite has the potential as supporting material in phase change materials that play a role in photothermal and magnetothermal conversion.