Non-hydrolytic sol–gel synthesis and reactive suspension method: an innovative approach to obtain magnetite–epoxy nanocomposite materials

Abstract: Innovative magnetite–epoxy nanocomposites were prepared starting from magnetite nanoparticles suspended in alcoholic or amino reactive solvents, synthesized by non-hydrolytic sol–gel process from iron (III) acetylacetonate. The obtained suspensions, also synthesized using microwave heating, were mixed with an epoxy monomer (bisphenol A diglycidyl ether, DGEBA), and the formulations were subsequently cured. The thermally activated ring-opening polymerization produced a three-dimensional network in which the suspending medium was covalently linked to the epoxy network according to the chain or step polymerization mechanisms during the cross-linking reaction. This synthetic strategy allowed to obtain nanocomposites in which the nanoparticles play an active role in the polymeric structure, affecting the structural (mechanical and thermal) and functional (magnetic) properties of the final system. The presence of magnetite nanoparticles in the composite resulted in distinct reinforcing effects, acting as rigid filler and/or as cross-linking point, depending on the different chemical environment at the nanoparticle–polymer interphase. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.