Preparation and Characterization of Composite Magnetic Microspheres

In this study, composite magnetic microspheres of tamarind gum and chitosan were prepared in a well-shaped spherical form with a size range of 230—46 0 μm by the suspension cross-linking technique for use in the application of magnetic carrier technology. The magnetic material used in the preparation of the microspheres was prepared by precipitation from FeCl3 and FeSO4 solutions in basic medium. The morphological, magnetic properties and the functional groups of the microspheres were characterized by different techniques (i.e., Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), magnetometry, and FT-IR). The results demonstrated that the stirring rate of the suspension and the Fe3O4/chitosan ratio are the most effective parameters for the size/size distribution and the magnetic quality of the microspheres, while the amount of tamarind gum has no significant effect on these properties. The best magnetic quality of the microspheres is around 4.11 emu/g microspheres at 8 KG magnetic field intensity. The thermal stability was measured by using DSC methods.