Iron oxide-based polymeric magnetic microspheres with a core shell structure: from controlled synthesis to demulsification applications

In this paper, iron oxide poly(methylmethacrylate-acrylicacid-divinylbenzene) Fe₃O₄@P(MMA-AA-DVB) magnetic core shell microspheres with chemical bonds between the inorganic core and the polymer shell in a narrow particle size were designed and synthesized. The surface morphology and magnetic properties of the magnetic Fe₃O₄@P(MMA-AA-DVB) nanoparticles formed were characterized using a laser particle size analyzer, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, and thermogravimetric analysis. Fourier transform infrared spectrometer analysis indicates the presence of carboxylic group -COOH and Fe₃O₄ in the final Fe₃O₄@P(MMA-AA-DVB) core shell microspheres. The Fe₃O₄@P(MMA-AA-DVB) core shell microspheres possessed a characteristic of paramagnetic with the saturation magnetization value of about 7 to 9 emu/g determined by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The experimental results show that Fe₃O₄@P(MMA-AA-DVB) magnetic core shell microspheres exhibit model interfacially active and demulsification properties. The results showed that the microspheres exhibited excellent magnetic and demulsification properties and can be recycled to use again.