Composites consisting of Fe(3)O(4) microspheres (FMS) and polyaniline (PANI), FMS/PANI, have been successfully prepared through a two-step oxidative polymerization of aniline monomers in the presence of Fe(3)O(4) microspheres. In our two-step polymerization technique, Fe(3+) and ammonium persulfate (APS) are used as the oxidants in each step. It is discovered that the two-step oxidative process plays a dominant role in the morphology of these composites: aniline oligomers oxidized by Fe(3+) are mainly produced in the first stage, and "egg-like" PANI aggregates are obtained in the second stage. It can be found that embedding Fe(3)O(4) microspheres in the polymer matrixes will not only modulate the complex permittivity but also produce magnetic resonance and loss in the composites. Therefore, the characteristic impedance and reflection loss of these composites are greatly improved. Especially, the composite with equal amount of FMS and PANI, FMS/PANI(50), displays very strong reflection loss over a wide frequency range that can be manipulated by the absorber thickness. More importantly, the composites prepared from the two-step chemical oxidative polymerization using hierarchical magnetic materials have better microwave absorption and environmental stability as compared with those composites from Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles, one-step oxidative polymerization, and physical mixture. We believe the two-step oxidative polymerization technique can be a novel route for the design and preparation of lightweight and highly effective microwave absorbers in the future.

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Heterogeneous catalysis for Friedel-Crafts type benzylation has received much attention in recent years due to its characteristic of environmental benefits. In this paper, titanate nanotubes (TNTs) were employed as heterogeneous catalyst support, and a new kind of Fe3+-exchanged titanate nanotubes (Fe-TNTs) catalyst with highly dispersed ferric sites was constructed by an ion exchange technique. The obtained catalyst was systematically characterized by XRD, TEM, N2adsorption, XPS, and UV-vis spectra. As expected, Fe-TNTs showed excellent catalytic activities in the benzylation of benzene and benzene derivatives. The recycling tests for Fe-TNTs were also carried out, where the reason for the gradually decreased activity was carefully investigated. Superior to some reported catalysts, the catalytic ability of used Fe-TNTs could be easily recovered by ion exchange again, indicating that Fe-TNTs herein were a highly active and durable heterogeneous catalyst for Friedel-Crafts type benzylation. These results might be helpful for the design and preparation of novel heterogeneous catalysts by combining the structural advantages of titanate nanotubes and active metal ions.