Transparent-ferromagnetic thermoplastic polymers for optical components

Optical plastics filled by nanosized magnetic particles may have important applications in the optical field (e.g. magneto-optics, etc.). Amorphous polystyrene filled by acicular magnetite particles of nanosized dimension (ca. 10 nm × 50 nm) has been obtained by thermal decomposition (at 200°C) of iron(II) mercaptide dissolved in the polymer. This nanocomposite material is quite transparent to visible light and shows ferromagnetic characteristics at room temperature. In particular, magnetic properties behaves anisotropically in the material and are related to the magnetite content. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.