Magneto-optical Faraday activity in transparent FeCo-sepiolite/polystyrene nanocomposites

• Published in: Journal of nanoparticle research : an interdisciplinary forum for nanoscale science and technology Vol. 15; no. 12; pp. 1 - 6
• Main Authors: Fernández-García, L., Pecharromán, C., Esteban-Cubillo, A., Tiemblo, P., García, N., Menéndez, J. L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.12.2013; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agglomeration; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Fullerenes and related materials; Inorganic Chemistry; Lasers; Light scattering; Magnetic properties and materials; Materials Science; Methods of nanofabrication; Nanocrystalline materials; Nanoparticles; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Nanotechnology; Optical Devices; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optics; Photonics; Physical Chemistry; Physics; Polymers; Research Paper; Small particles and nanoscale materials; Studies of specific magnetic materials; Visible and ultraviolet spectra; Ferromagnetic nanoparticles; FeCo; Faraday rotation; Nanocomposites; Light scattering; Visible spectra; Ferromagnetic materials; Dispersions; Microparticles; Fibers; Magnetic susceptibility; Nanoparticles; Composite materials; Optical activity; Polymers; Nanostructured materials; Nanomaterial synthesis
• ISSN: 1388-0764; 1572-896X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11051-013-2119-y

FeCo nanoparticles synthesized on sepiolite microparticles were used for the preparation of nanocomposites by melt compounding with polystyrene. Both, the sepiolite fibers and the nanoparticles were free of agglomeration, which allowed preparing nanocomposites with a homogeneous dispersion of the second phases, avoiding the usual agglomeration of the nanoparticles and minimizing light scattering. As a consequence, transparent composites with a high magnetic susceptibility have been obtained. The magneto-optical Faraday activity of these nanocomposites has been studied, finding saturation rotations over 200 rad·m −1 in the visible range. The processing route presented in this work can be easily transferred to industry and allows preparing polymer matrix nanocomposites with no restriction on shape or size and opens the possibility of developing other highly transparent polymer-based nanocomposites.