Fe–phthalocyanine oligomer/Fe3O4 nano-hybrid particles and their effect on the properties of polyarylene ether nitriles magnetic nanocomposites

Fe–phthalocyanine oligomer/Fe3O4 nano-hybrid particles were successfully prepared from bis-phthalonitrile and FeCl3·6H2O through a simple and effective solvent-thermal route. The hybrids were monodispersed solid microspheres from the coalescence of small particles. About 3.7% of the phthalocyanine polymer was incorporated into the resulting hybrids. Then the hybrids as nanofillers in polyarylene ether nitriles (PEN) were investigated. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigations showed that the addition of the hybrids exhibited better dispersion and compatibility with PEN matrix than that of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The mechanical properties and thermal stability of PEN/hybrid Fe3O4 nanocomposites had a significant improvement. Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) results showed that the prepared PEN nanocomposites presented soft magnetic properties. PEN nanocomposites filled with hybrid Fe3O4 nanoparticles exhibited higher saturation magnetization than that of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The saturation magnetization (Ms) of the PEN/hybrid Fe3O4 nanocomposites increased with the increase of the hybrids and the Ms along the parallel and perpendicular direction were close to each other. These results were due to the better dispersion of the hybrids and the interfacial bonding between the hybrids and the surrounding matrix.