You have to add Bootstrap 4.2.1 for this code while you are using 4.0
$(document).ready(function() {
$("#btnFetch").click(function() {
// disable button
$(this).prop("disabled", true);
// add spinner to button
$(this).html(
`<span class="spinner-border spinner-border-sm" role="status" aria-hidden="true"></span> Loading...`
);
});
});
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.2.1/css/bootstrap.min.css">
<div style="margin:3em;">
<form class="form-inline" id="topicForm" action="" method="POST">
<input type="text" id="inputTopic" name="topic" class="form-control mb-2 mr-sm-2" placeholder="Topic of interest" required autofocus/>
<button type="button" id="btnFetch" class="btn btn-primary mb-2">Submit</button>
</form>
</div>
<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.3.1.slim.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/popper.js/1.14.6/umd/popper.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.2.1/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>