Preparation of Fe₃O₄/PSt/TiO₂ composite particles with electrical and magnetic response

The composite particles responsive to electric and magnetic field are synthesized in this note, which consist of magnetic preparation of Fe₃O₄/PSt polymer particles as core and the amorphous titanate as coated shell. The morphology and the dimension of the particles by scanning electron microscope showed that the composite particles were as-spherical with average diameter of 3.60 μm, nearly two times larger than that of the core particle of 1.923 μm in diameter. The FT-IR spectra and TG-DTA curves of the particles determined the structure of the coated composite particles. The measured results of the composite particles, such as dielectric constant, conductivity were approximate to that of the amorphous titanate particles. Meanwhile, the transmittance of the composite particles aqueous suspension under magnetic field can reach 90% within 900 s, contrast to that of 60% under natural settlement. Furthermore, the suspended particles in silicon oil were aligned under either electric or magnetic field. It was concluded that the as-formed composite particles were responsive to the electric and magnetic field.