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

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Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgments

The authors want to acknowledge the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science through projects MAT2011-29174-C02-01 and MAT2011-29174-C02-02. We also thank BIOPHYM at the IEM-CSIC for the use of the TEM. One of us, L. Fernandez-Garcia, wants to acknowledge JAE program for Ph.D. grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación en Nanomateriales y Nanotecnología (CINN), Consejo superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Universidad de Oviedo (UO), Principado de Asturias, Parque Tecnológico de Asturias, 33428, Llanera, Asturias, Spain

    L. Fernández-García & J. L. Menéndez

  2. Instituto de Ciencia de Materias de Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Calle Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz 3, Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    C. Pecharromán

  3. Tolsa S. A. R. & D. Department, Ctra. Vallecas-Mejorada del Campo, 28031, Madrid, Spain

    A. Esteban-Cubillo

  4. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Polímeros, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Calle Juan de la Cierva 3, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    P. Tiemblo & N. García

Authors
  1. L. Fernández-García
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  2. C. Pecharromán
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  3. A. Esteban-Cubillo
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  4. P. Tiemblo
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  5. N. García
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  6. J. L. Menéndez
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. L. Menéndez.

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Fernández-García, L., Pecharromán, C., Esteban-Cubillo, A. et al. Magneto-optical Faraday activity in transparent FeCo-sepiolite/polystyrene nanocomposites. J Nanopart Res 15, 2119 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-013-2119-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-013-2119-y

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