Tuneable magnetic nanocomposites for remote self-healing.

Gupta, Ranjeetkumar; Gupta, Priya; Footer, Charles; Stenning, Gavin B.G.; Darr, Jawwad A.; Pancholi, Ketan

Abstract

When polymer composites containing magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are exposed to an alternating magnetic field, heat is generated to melt the surrounding polymer locally, partially filling voids across any cracks or deformities. Such materials are of interest for structural applications; however, structural polymers with high melting temperatures pose the challenge of generating high localised temperatures enabling self-healing. A method to prepare a multiferroic-Polyamide 6 (PA6) nanocomposite with tuneable magnetocaloric properties is reported. Tunability arises from varying the MNP material (and any coating, its dispersion, and agglomerate sizes in the nanocomposite). The superparamagnetic MNPs (SMNPs) and iron oxide MNPs with and without surface functionalization were dispersed into PA6 through in situ polymerization, and their magnetic properties were compared. Furthermore, computer simulations were used to quantify the dispersion state of MNPs and assess the influence of the interaction radius on the magnetic response of the self-healable magnetic nanoparticle polymer (SHMNP) composite. It was shown that maintaining the low interaction radius through the dispersion of the low coercivity MNPs could allow tuning of the bulk magnetocaloric properties of the resulting mesostructures. An in-situ polymerization method improved the dispersion and reduced the maximum interaction radius value from ca. 806 to 371 nm and increased the magnetic response for the silica-coated SMNP composite. This sample displayed ca. three orders of magnitude enhancement for magnetic saturation compared to the unfunctionalized Fe3O4 MNP composite.

Citation

GUPTA, R., GUPTA, P., FOOTER, C., STENNING, G.B.G., DARR, J.A. and PANCHOLI, K. 2022. Tuneable magnetic nanocomposites for remote self-healing. Scientific reports [online], 12, article 10180. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14135-8

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 11, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Jun 17, 2022
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2022
• Deposit Date: Jun 9, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 9, 2022
• Journal: Scientific reports
• Electronic ISSN: 2045-2322
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Article Number: 10180
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14135-8
• Keywords: Polymer composites; Magnetic nanoparticles; Self-healing polymers; Self-healing composites; Nanomaterials; Composites; Mechanical engineering; Synthesis and processing
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1674234
• Related Public URLs: https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-1579700 (Dataset)
• Additional Information: The accompanying file includes both the main text and the supplementary materials. The dataset is held separately: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1579700