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Magnetite (Fe3O4)-filled carbon nanofibers as electro-conducting/superparamagnetic nanohybrids and their multifunctional polymer composites

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Abstract

A mild-temperature, nonchemical technique is used to produce a nanohybrid multifunctional (electro-conducting and magnetic) powder material by intercalating iron oxide nanoparticles in large aspect ratio, open-ended, hollow-core carbon nanofibers (CNFs). Single-crystal, superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (10 nm average diameter) filled the CNF internal cavity (diameter <100 nm) after successive steps starting with dispersion of CNFs and magnetite nanoparticles in aqueous or organic solvents, sequencing or combining sonication-assisted capillary imbibition and concentration-driven diffusion, and finally drying at mild temperatures. The influence of several process parameters—such as sonication type and duration, concentration of solids dispersed in solvent, CNF-to-nanoparticle mass ratio, and drying temperature—on intercalation efficiency (evaluated in terms of particle packing in the CNF cavity) was studied using electron microscopy. The magnetic CNF powder was used as a low-concentration filler in poly(methyl methacrylate) to demonstrate thin free-standing polymer films with simultaneous magnetic and electro-conducting properties. Such films could be implemented in sensors, optoelectromagnetic devices, or electromagnetic interference shields.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported in part by the US National Science Foundation under Grant NIRT CBET 0609062. MR was supported by a CIES Fulbright Fellowship. The authors thank Dr. V. Caramia for assistance with the conductivity measurements and Dr. I.S. Bayer for fruitful discussions. Both are with the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, 842 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL, 60607, USA

    Arindam Das, Muhammad Raffi & Constantine Megaridis

  2. Plasma Research and Applications Laboratory, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Muhammad Raffi

  3. Smart Materials, Nanophysics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163, Genova, Italy

    Despina Fragouli & Athanassia Athanassiou

  4. INSTM Research Unit and Department of Chemistry, Universita di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy

    Claudia Innocenti

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  1. Arindam Das
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  2. Muhammad Raffi
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  4. Despina Fragouli
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  6. Athanassia Athanassiou
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Correspondence to Constantine Megaridis.

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Das, A., Raffi, M., Megaridis, C. et al. Magnetite (Fe3O4)-filled carbon nanofibers as electro-conducting/superparamagnetic nanohybrids and their multifunctional polymer composites. J Nanopart Res 17, 1 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-014-2856-6

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