For magnetic nanoparticles, utilization in devices is precluded by the difficulty in processing powders into functional geometries for electronic applications.  The goal was to create a composite material with a dense-packing of magnetic nanoparticles, since this would yield magnetic properties similar to the pure nanoparticles. The polymerizable surfactant was a derivative of acetylacetone (denoted stacac) in which a styryl-group is appended at the 3-position.  Stacac was added to magnetite nanoparticles in varying amounts and polymerized with a radical initiator and heat. After optimizing the ratio of nanoparticles and monomer, a highly magnetic, monolithic material was formed that contained the desired dense-packing of magnetite nanoparticles.  The composite could be molded into different shapes for use as the magnetic component in inductors or transformers, allowing for possible applications of this material in electronic devices.

A metal-binding site was engineered into a polymer matrix using a template copolymerization technique. Ligands with polymerizable end-groups were bound to a metal ion, as well as a non-polymerizable ligand which act to form a void space in the immobilized site. After polymerization in the presence of excess crosslinking agent, the metal ion along with the non-polymerizable ligand were removed to generate a coordinatively unsaturated metal-binding site. The void space created from the non- polymerizable ligand would allow for binding of small molecules. CoII ions were inserted and the material was examined by EPR spectroscopy for the activation of dioxygen.

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 8946; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2004, 43, 2806.

Polym. Chem. 2012, 3, 2852.

Templated metal sites in porous organic hosts

Magnetic composite materials