In recent years, monodispersed magnetic nanoparticles with a core/shell structure are expected for their wide applications including magnetic fluid, recoverable catalysts, and biological analysis. However, their synthesis method needs numerous processes such as solvent substitution, exchange of protective agents, and centrifugation. A simple and rapid method for the synthesis of monodispersed core-shell nanoparticles makes it possible to accelerate their further applications. This paper describes a simple and rapid one-pot synthesis of core (CoFe2O4)-shell (Ag) nanoparticles with high monodispersity. The synthesized nanoparticles showed plasmonic light absorption owing to the Ag shell. Moreover, the magnetic property of the nanoparticles had a soft magnetic behavior at room temperature and a hard magnetic behavior at 5 K. In addition, the nanoparticles showed high monodispersity with a low polydispersity index (PDI) value of 0.083 in hexane.

Organic–inorganic hybrid materials have become indispensable high-performance and highly functional materials. This is owing to the improved dispersion control in hybrid materials and emergence of functional ionic liquids. Harmonization of both these factors has enabled the utilization of functional 3D network structures and nanodispersions in composite materials. Polymeric materials endow materials with flexibility, toughness, and shape-memory properties, whereas inorganic materials provide materials with unique optical, electrical, and magnetic properties due to their nanosize. Organic–inorganic hybrid materials have evolved into novel materials that go beyond the composite rule. In this review, the historical development of hybrid materials prepared using the sol-gel method and the birth of ionic liquids have been summarized. In addition, the historical results leading to the development of functional 3D network structures and dispersion control have also been presented, as well as a review of the research on functional ionic liquids, which are of current interest. The authors also summarize the results of their research on functional ionic liquids. The design of new organic–inorganic hybrid materials has been discussed and the future prospects of new polymer composite materials provided.

Poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA) has biocompatibility and unique characteristics such as piezoelectric properties. This attracts attention not only in the environmental field but also in the biomedical and electronic materials fields. In recent years, the literature about orienting PLLA crystals has been promoting new applications for PLLA such as high strength fiberization and piezoelectric properties. This paper presents a new technique to orient the PLLA crystalline through casting under magnetic irradiation. The advantage of this technique is that it is possible to radiate the magnetic field to the PLLA crystalline in an extremely low viscosity environment. Moreover, the heat treatment condition was optimized in order to improve the low crystallinity of casting, and it succeeded in producing a PLLA film with a high degree of orientation and high crystallinity. Furthermore, PLLA/1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dibutylphosphate (bmimjdbp) composite films were prepared under the same conditions, and this also succeeded in the further improvement of crystallinity.

The sol–gel method remains an attractive approach for dispersing an inorganic component in a polymer matrix on the mesoscopic scale. However, the interaction of inorganic components with polymer side chains increases uncontrolled crosslinking points and brings about the fatal loss of toughness in polymer materials. In this study, we report the use of tetrabutylphosphonium chloride (TBPC) as an ionic liquid to intercept interaction between polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and titania. The addition of TBPC to the PMMA/titania hybrid system is shown to improve transparency, toughness, and shape memory properties (SMPs). A tensile test showed that the hybrid system containing 40 wt% TBPC had a breaking energy (362.1 kJ m⁻³) that was ∼28 times greater than that of the film without ionic liquid (14.1 kJ m⁻³). In addition, the SMPs of the system were; strain (44%), shape fixation ratio (99%), and shape recovery (88%) as a result of the controlled crosslinking points. Interestingly, we coincidentally found that TBPC suppresses the photochromic activity of titania despite UV irradiation (250 W, 2 h), which helps to improve the degradation of titania hybrid film transparency. The use of TBPC in hybrid films is effective for designing materials with multifunctionality, including optical, mechanical, and shape memory properties.