Nanostructured magnetic materials are important for many advanced
applications. Consequently, new methods for their fabrication are
critical. However, coupling self-assembly to the generation of magnetic
materials in a simple, straight-forward manner has remained elusive.
Although several approaches have been considered, most have multiple
processing steps, thus diminishing their use of self-assembly to
influence magnetic properties. Here we develop novel block copolymers
that are preprogrammed with the necessary chemical information to
microphase separate and deliver room temperature ferromagnetic
properties following a simple heat treatment. The importance of the
nanostructured confinement is demonstrated by comparison with the parent
homopolymer, which provides only paramagnetic materials, even though it
is chemically identical and has a higher loading of the magnetic
precursor. In addition to the room temperature ferromagnetic properties
originating from the block copolymer, the in situ generation densely functionalizes the surface of the magnetic elements, rendering them oxidatively stable.
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