Preparation and enhanced properties of Fe3O4 nanoparticles reinforced polyimide nanocomposites

Polyimide (PI) nanocomposite reinforced with Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) at various NPs loadings levels of 5.0, 10.0, 15.0, and 20.0 wt% were prepared. The chemical interactions of the Fe3O4 NPs/PI nanocomposites were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) results revealed that the addition of NPs had a significant effect on the crystallization of PI. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the atomic force microscope (AFM) were used to characterize the dispersion and surface morphology of the Fe3O4 NPs and the PI nanocomposites. The obtained optical band gap of the nanocomposites characterized using Ultraviolet-Visible Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS) was decreased with increasing the Fe3O4 loading. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results showed a continuous increase of T-g with increasing the Fe3O4 NPs loading. Some differences were observed in the onset decomposition temperature between the pure PI and nanocomposites since the NPs and the PI matrix were physically entangled together to form the nanocomposites. The contact angle of pure PI was larger than that of Fe3O4/PI nanocomposites films, and increased with increasing the loading of Fe3O4. The degree of swelling was increased with increasing the Fe3O4 loading and the swelling time. The dielectric properties of the nanocomposite were strongly related to the Fe3O4 loading levels. The Fe3O4/PI magnetic property also had been improved with increasing the loading of the magnetic nanoparticles. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.