Design and Synthesis of Novel Hematite Core-Shell Polymeric Composites

A novel synthetic method was developed for the preparation of core-shell composites consisting of alpha-Fe2O3 cores with poly(styrene-co-methyl methacrylate) (P(St-co-MMA)) shells via emulsion copolymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate monomer with surfactant of PVP. The structure, morphology and thermal properties of the composites were been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results confirmed that there was no chemical interaction between alpha-Fe2O3 and copolymer, and the onset of thermal decomposition for nanocomposites shifted to a higher temperature than that for neat copolymer.