Novel hybrid materials of magnetic nanoparticles and cellulose fibers.

In this study, magnetic cellulose fibers have been prepared by coating bleached Kraft fibers (Pinus radiata) with magnetite nanoparticles. In doing so, the inherent properties of the fiber (such as tensile strength and flexibility) have been preserved, but imparted to it are the magnetic properties of the coating. The surface coating approach used differs from other methods in the literature in which the lumen loading or in situ approach is taken. After successive washings and sonication, the particles remained bonded to the surface of the fiber, and the fibers could be formed into a paper sheet. The chemical and physical characterization of these materials were carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and SQUID magnetometry. SEM shows the surface of the fibers to be completely encapsulated by the ferrite nanoparticles. This is also confirmed by EDS. XRD line broadening analysis shows the average particle sizes of the nanoparticles range from 12-26 nm. Magnetically responsive cellulose fibers such as those synthesized in this study, will allow the investigation of new concepts in papermaking and packaging, security paper, and information storage. Potential applications are in electromagnetic shielding, magnetographic printing and magnetic filtering.