Fabrication of Carbonyl Iron Embedded Polycarbonate Composite Particles and Magnetorheological Characterization

Carbonyl iron (CI)-based magnetorheological (MR) fluid exhibits serious dispersion defect due to large density mismatch between CI particles and continuous medium, which obviously restricts further MR application. Thus, various modifications on CI particles have been explored, among which embedding CI particles within polymer matrix attracted much attention because the density of fabricated polymer/CI particles got considerably low, consequently enhancing the dispersion stability. In this paper, a more thermal stable polymer, polycarbonate (PC) with high strength, toughness, and heat resistance was adopted as polymer matrix, in which CI particles were randomly embedded via a facile solvent casting method. The embedding structure and density were confirmed by SEM/OM images and pycnometer, respectively. Finally, MR characterization was investigated.