Core-shell nanostructured cobalt ferrite-sisesquioxane-epoxy composites : nanofiller surface treatment, particle dispersion, mechanical and magnetic properties

Magnetic core-shell cobalt ferrite-silsesquioxane-epoxy nanocomposites have been prepared with uniform nanoparticle distribution. The nanoparticles were surface-treated with methyl- (MTMS), aminopropyl- (APTMS), glycidoxypropyl- (GPTMS) trimethoxy-silane. The optimum coating process was performed in a water/merthanol solution on the particles directly after their synthesis without prior drying. The GPTMS-coatings were 30 nm thick and the nanoparticles dispersed well in epoxy without sedimentation. The MTMS-coated nanoparticles (3 nm coating) formed weak agglomerates in epoxy but showed no sedimentation. The APTMS-coated particles formed stronger agglomerates, which led to sedimentation of the aorticles during molding. The GPTMS-based composites showed higher fracture toughness than the MTMS-based composites. This was attributed to the presence of large agglomerates in the latter systems and to the stronger interface between coating and epoxy in the former systems. Ultrasonic alkaline etching allowed precis determination of the ferrite content of the core-shell nanoparticles. Magnetometry showe a markedly lower coercivity for nanoparticles with thin coatings (MTMS) than for the nanoparticles with thicker coatings (GPTMS) suggesting the occurrence of magnetic exchange interaction in the former systems. The nanocomposites showed no influence of surface coating on coercivity or saturation magnetization suggesting that the inter-particle distances were greater than 0.5 nm.