Design and properties of Poly(arylene ether nitriles) composites via incorporation of Poly(arylene ether nitriles) grafted Fe3O4/Fe-phthalocyanine hybrid submicron-spheres

In this study, we prepared a kind of Poly(arylene ether nitriles) (PEN) based Fe3O4/Fe-Phthalocyanine (Fe3O4/FePc) hybrid submicron-sphere composite with good interfacial compatibility. Firstly, a new kind of Fe3O4/FePc hybrid submicron-sphere was prepared from ferric chloride and FePc, which was synthesized from bisphthalonitrile containing aromatic ether nitrile linkage. Plenty of nitrile groups derived from FePc were on the surface of hybrid submicron-spheres. Then, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and formic acid solution were used to obtain hybrid submicron-spheres with carboxyl groups on the surface. To further roughen the surface of the hybrid submicron-spheres, hydroxyl end-capped PEN was introduced to the surface of carboxylated Fe3O4/FePc hybrid submicron-spheres via esterification reactions. The surface structures, morphology and thermal stability of the original, carboxylated and grafted hybrid submicron-spheres were investigated by FT-IR, SEM and TGA. Results indicated that hydroxyl end-capped PEN was grafted onto the surface of Fe3O4/FePc hybrid submicron-sphere and the surface was significantly roughened. The improved interfacial compatibility between the grafted Fe3O4/FePc hybrid submicron-sphere and PEN matrix was investigated and confirmed by images of the fracture surface, improved mechanical properties and reduced dielectric loss of the designed composites. Moreover, good magnetic properties, excellent thermal stability and flexibility of the PEN-based composites may enable them be used in the fields of high temperature resistant electromagnetic response.