Magnetic epoxy nanocomposites reinforced with hierarchical alpha-Fe2O3 nanoflowers: a study of mechanical properties

In this work, we presented the potentiality of monodispersed 3D hierarchical alpha-Fe2O3 nanoflowers (alpha-Fe2O3) as reinforcement for epoxy polymer. alpha-Fe2O3 are synthesized through the thermal decomposition of iron alkoxide precursor in ethylene glycol. alpha-Fe2O3/epoxy nanocomposites (0.1 wt% of alpha-Fe2O3) show 109%, 59%, 13%, and 15% enhancement in impact (un-notched), impact (notched), flexural and tensile properties, respectively. The uniformly embedded alpha-Fe2O3 nanoflowers in epoxy polymer not only provide mechanical strength but also induced magnetic nature to the nanocomposite as observed from the Scanning electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer.