Abstract

In the present study, the effect of Ni, Co, and Fe carbon-based magnetic fillers (Ni-C, Co-C, and Fe-C) was investigated on the magnetic, mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties of polyethylene nanocomposites. The in situ polymerization technique was used to prepare nanocomposites of polyethylene from the ethylene monomer introducing small amounts of filler ranging from 1 to 2 wt.%. The metal-carbonized fillers were obtained by pyrolysis of wood sawdust activated by Ni, Co, or Fe salts. X-ray diffraction showed that the fillers were of nanometric size. Thermogravimetric analysis was executed to investigate the thermal strength of the materials as well as to calculate the metal content in the carbon-based fillers. The onset degradation temperature showed an enhancement of 17 degrees C, whereas the maximum degradation temperatures increased 4 degrees C with the introduction of the filler. Differential scanning calorimetry indicated an improvement of 3 degrees C in crystallization temperature, whereas the melting temperature remained unchanged compared to neat polyethylene. The filler was shown to increase the modulus of elasticity of the nanocomposites. The addition of 1.0 wt.% of the metal-carbonized material in the diamagnetic polymer matrix resulted in a thermoplastic nanocomposite with ferromagnetic behavior. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2020. (c) 2020 Society of Plastics Engineers