Development of High Magnetization Fe3O4Polystyrene/SiIica Nanospheres via Combined Miniemulsion/Emulsion Polymerization.

The article presents a process to obtain monodispersed, nanoscale and superparamagnetic magnetite or polystyrene spheres. By uniquely combining modified miniemulsion/emulsion polymerization and the sol-gel technique, the surfaces of monodispersed nanospheres functionalized to be hydrophilic through silica coating. Aside from also serving as a buffer, the silica coating protected the magnetite nanoparticles from dissolving in the application environments.