Polymer/magnetic nanoparticle-based nanocomposites

Magnetic Nanoparticles-Based Conducting Polymer Nanocomposites... 

Fig. 4 Schematic illustration of nanoparticle and polymer-based nanocomposites with the control of interparticle spacing for tunable photonic and magnetic properties, site-selective 2D patterning for device fabrication, and size and shape of polymer-particle aggregates for complex 3D structures...

Polymer-based nanocomposites reinforced with nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted much interest due to their homogeneity, relatively easy processability, and tunable physicochemical properties, such as mechanical, magnetic, electric, thermoelectric, and electronic properties [2,19-36], High particle loading is required for certain industrial applications, such as electromagnetic-wave absorbers [37,38], photovoltaic cells (solar cells) [39,40], photo detectors, and smart structures [41 3]. A nanoparticle core with a polymer shell renders many industrial applications possible, such as nanofluids and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). 

A.M.M.S. Medeiros, F. Machado, J.C. Rubim, Synthesis and characterization of a magnetic bio-nanocomposite based on magnetic nanoparticles modified by acrylated fatty acids derived from castor oil, European Polymer Journal 71 (2015) 152—163. 

In brief, the preparation methods of these nanocomposites can be classified in four main routes proposed in the literature that are graphically represented in Fig. 2 for the preparation of composites based on PPy. In the first strategy, both components, the polymer and the magnetic nanoparticles are synthesized separately and then mixed to produce the nanocomposite. This route presents as the main inconveniences that the conducting polymers, i.e., PPy, are not soluble in common solvent and also this method normally conducts to heterogeneous composites with... 

However, and without any doubt, the in situ monomer polymerization in the presence of pre-prepared magnetic nanoparticles is the most common strategy to prepare nanocomposites based on conducting polymers. In this sense the polymerization can be carried out in either homogeneous medium or heterogeneous medium, i.e., in emulsion using surfactants, providing different types of nanocomposites, from films to core-shell particles. 

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