Synthesis and magnetorheological characteristics of ribbon-like, polypyrrole-coated carbonyl iron suspensions under oscillatory shear

One of the crucial problems of classical magnetorheological (MR) fluids is their high rate of sedimentation. This disadvantage may be substantially eliminated using core-shell particles. The aim of this study is to prepare spherical carbonyl iron (CI) particles coated with conducing polymer polypyrrole (PPy) with ribbon-like morphology. Scanning electron microscopy proved the formation of the ribbon-like layer onto CI particles while Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the chemical structure of PPy. The magnetic properties observed via vibrating sample magnetometer showed decreased magnetization saturation of core-shell-structured particles due to the existence of non-magnetic surface layer. MR measurements performed under oscillatory shear flow as a function of the applied magnetic flux density, temperature, and particle concentration showed that core-shell particle-based MR suspension exhibits sufficient MR performance for practical applications. Moreover, the suspension stability is promoted significantly when core-shell particles are used as a dispersed phase. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013