Fabrication of Core-Shell Fe3O4/Polypyrrole and Hollow Polypyrrole Microspheres

A facile synthesis of highly-regulated core-shell Fe3O4/polypyrrole (PPy) microspheres is achieved using a surfactant directed chemical oxidation polymerization in aqueous solution. The thickness of the PPy layer can be tuned by the quantity of the pyrrole monomer. The formation of core-shell Fe3O4/PPy microspheres lies on the static interactions between the SO3- group in sodium dodecyl sulphate molecules and Fe3O4 microspheres. Other surfactants such as cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and polyoxyethylene (10) isooctylcyclohexyl ether (Triton X-100) directed polymerization cannot produce such highly-regulated core-shell Fe3O4/PPy microspheres. XPS spectra proved the core-shell structure of the composite microspheres. XRD, FTIR, and UV-vis spectra are used to characterize the chemical structure of the composite microspheres. The electrical and magnetic properties are also investigated. Moreover, the obtained core-shell Fe3O4/PPy microspheres can be converted to highly-regulated hollow PPy microspheres by dissolving the Fe3O4 core with acid solution. POLYM. COMPOS., 30:847-854, 2009. (C) 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers