Co-precipitation method of synthesis and characterization of iron oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

Nano-sized crystallites of iron oxide were synthesized by cost effective co-precipitation method. X-ray diffraction pattern indicated that the magnetic nanoparticles were pure Fe₃O₄ with a spinel structure. The nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectra, Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and magnetization measurement of the nanoparticles were carried out using vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). The cell thickness of fresh nanoparticle estimated from XRD lies in the range of 5.65- 8.16 nm whereas the particle size in the TEM was 20-22 nm. This results indicated that few grains of ferrite were aggregated to form particles of about 20-50 nm in diameter. The thermogravimetric analysis of the nanoparticle was also carried out in temperature interval from room temperature to 700^oC. In the study, the particles having higher magnetization value in comparison to previously prepared ferrite were synthesized and the method used can also be a model for the synthesis of other nanoparticles in which Fe (II) is incorporated in the particle growth process.