Novel magnetic crosslinked composites with fly ash as filler via facile “one-pot” in-situ radical bulk polymerization

Fly ash (FA), generated during the combustion of coal for energy production, is an industrial by-product which results in environmental risk. To make the waste profitable, novel crosslinked fly ash/polystyrene (FA/PS) composites were prepared via the facile in-situ “one-pot” radical bulk polymerization of styrene in the presence of the FA particles with γ-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxy-silane (KH-570) as the coupling agent in the present work. It makes FA profitable by using the waste as the filler for composites. The effect of the amount of FA and coupling agent on the properties of the FA/PS composites were investigated by thermal analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and swelling technique. Their structural model was proposed on the basis of the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and swelling analysis. The magnetic properties of the FA/PS composites were also investigated.