Magnetic nanofibrous materials based on CMC/PVA polymeric blends

Abstract

In this paper, the synthesis of magnetic nanofibrous materials with a soft ferromagnetic response based on magnetite nanoparticles (SMON) loaded to aqueous carboxymethyl-cellulose (CMC)/polyvinyl-alcohol (PVA) polymeric blends is reported. The nanofibrous materials were obtained from the electrospinning of SMON-CMC/PVA blends with different SMON content, applying a constant tension of 15 kV. The synthesized samples were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared, Raman and X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy, as well as static magnetic measuring. Our experimental findings indicate that nanofibers' diameter decreases as SMON content in the electrospun polymeric blends is increased, since these magnetic nanoparticles diminish the interactions between PVA and CMC molecules, which improves their spinnability. Moreover, the spatial distribution of SMON in the fibers provides to the synthesized nanofibrous materials a novel soft ferromagnetic response at room temperature. This phenomenon is attributed to the formation of nanoparticles' aggregates that are discretely distributed in the nanofibers.

Keywords: Carboxymethyl-cellulose; Electrospinning; Magnetite nanoparticles; Nanofibrous material; Polyvinyl alcohol; Soft ferromagnet.