| Summary: | The preparation and characterization of ultrafine superparamagnetic Fe3O4 (magnetite) nanoparticles and their composites with the PMMA polymer matrix are described. The cubic structure with space group (Fd3 ¯ m) of the nanofiller particle Fe3O4 is revealed by x-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to examine the microstructure and elemental compositions of PMMA-Fe3O4 polymer composites. The interaction of the filler particles with the characteristic functional group of the polymer PMMA was detected using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). UV-spectroscopy studies revealed that PMMA-Fe3O4 nanocomposite films have tunable energy band gap properties, with the band gap decreasing as the magnetite filler particles (Fe3O4) in the polymer matrix increased. Magnetic measurements revealed the superparamagnetic nature of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles at room temperature, which was also found to be present in the nanocomposites. These nanocomposites were found to be ferrimagnetic at low temperatures (5 K) similar to that of the nanoparticles (Fe3O4). The blocking temperature (TB) of the nanocomposites was found to increase with the superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticle content, while the saturation magnetization (Ms) of the polymer nanocomposites decreased consistently. The Ms value was also estimated using TGA data, and the Ms values of different nanoparticles and nanocomposites calculated via TGA correlates with those determined from VSM analysis. © 2023, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.
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