Synthesis and Characterization of Magnetic Elastomer based PEG-Coated Fe₃O₄ from Natural Iron Sand

Magnetic elastomer nanocomposite based PEG-coated Fe₃O₄ with silicone rubber binder have been prepared from natural iron-sand by using coprecipitation method. The samples were characterized by using X-ray Diffractometer, X-ray Fluorescence, Fourier Transform Infra-Red, tensile strength test, and Vibrating Sample Magnetometer to analyze the physical and magnetic properties. We observed that all samples were formed by single phase cubic spinel magnetite (Fe₃O₄) crystalline structure. The atomic bonding analysis by FTIR showed that the C-O-C and C-H ordering were understood as the PEG – Fe₃O₄ bonding characteristics. We have observed that the Young modulus of elastomer based PEG-coated Fe₃O₄ slightly decreased compared to the natural iron-sand based elastomer. The magnetic properties of PEG-coated Fe₃O₄ were known to be magnetically softer with the lowest coercivity without losing its magnetization saturation value. We propose that the PEG-coated Fe₃O₄ is a promising candidate to be applied as magnetorheological elastomer due to a good mechanical and magnetic characteristic and also promising as microwave absorbing materials. (paper)