One-pot preparation of polyimide/Fe3O4 magnetic nanofibers with solvent resistant properties

A series of solvent resistant magnetic polyimide/Fe3O4 (PI/Fe3O4) nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning the polyamide acid/ferric acetylacetonate (PAA/Fe(acac)3) mixed solutions and followed by a thermal treatment procedure. Samples were fully characterized in terms of FTIR, SEM, TEM, XRD and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). PI/Fe3O4 nanofibers structure and performance can be tuned by varying the thermal treatment procedure and Fe(acac)3 loading amount as well. Results revealed the complete transformation from PAA to PI after thermal treatment procedure, and the Fe3O4 particles dispersed relatively well, and mainly in the outer sphere of PI nanofibers under optimal conditions. VSM results showed that the saturation magnetization of PI/Fe3O4 nanofibers with a Fe(acac)3 loading amount of 21% can reach up to 10.46 emu/g. The one-pot prepared magnetic PI/Fe3O4 nanofibers were stable in most common organic solvents. This methodology can be scaled up and the obtained nanofibers could be an encouraging candidate for the template of adsorption, separation and catalysis, especially in the organic solvent phase.