Magnetic ionic liquid monomers were synthesized and then polymerized to get magnetic polymer latexes and films. First, a series of 1‐vinyl‐3‐dodecyl‐imidazolium monomers having metal halides counter‐anions such as FeCl3Br−, CoCl2Br−, and MnCl2Br− were synthesized. These ionic liquid monomers were first homopolymerized to lead to magnetic poly(ionic liquids) and characterized. Secondly, magnetic latexes were synthesized by using the magnetic ionic liquids as surfmers (surfactant + monomer) in the emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate/n‐butyl acrylate. It was found that the powders obtained by freeze‐drying the latexes presented a paramagnetic behavior with weak antiferromagnetic interactions between the adjacent metal ions. Although the ratio of magnetic ionic liquid/monomer was only 2% these poly(methyl methacrylate‐co‐butyl acrylate) powders and latexes responded to a magnetic field due to the surfmer paramagnetic nature. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016, 54, 1145–1152

Novel multifunctional titanium dioxide (TiO 2 )/ polystyrene/magnetite composite hybrid polymer particle dispersions with TiO 2 nanoparticles in the surface and magnetite nanoparticles encapsulated inside the polymer matrix were produced by Pickering miniemulsion polymerization in one single step. Whereas TiO 2 nanoparticles were used to impart photocatalytic functionality and colloidal stability, magnetite nanoparticles were incorporated to allow an easy extraction for recovery and reuse of the composite multifunctional particles. The morphology of the composite particles was assessed by scanning transition electron microscopy (STEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The paramagnetism of the particles was analyzed using a SQUID magnetometer and their photocatalytic activity was assessed by degrading methylene blue (MB) solutions under UV light and by recovering and reusing of the particles in five consecutive cycles.