ferroferric oxide/polystyrene (fe3o4/ps) superparamagnetic nanocomposite via facile in situ bulk radical polymerization

Organo-modified ferroferric oxide superparamagnetic nanoparticles, synthesized by the coprecipitation of superparamagnetic nanoparticles in presence of oleic acid (OA), were incorporated in polystyrene (PS) by the facile in situ bulk radical polymerization by using 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of the resultant uniform ferroferric oxide/polystyrene superparamagnetic nanocomposite (Fe3O4/PS) showed that the superparamagnetic nanoparticles had been dispersed homogeneously in the polymer matrix due to the surface grafted polystyrene, confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The superparamagnetic property of the Fe3O4/PS nanocomposite was testified by the vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) analysis. The strategy developed is expected to be applied for the large-scale industrial manufacturing of the superparamagnetic polymer nanocomposite.