Magnetite Fe ₃ O ₄ nanoparticles synthesis by wet chemical reduction and their characterization

Abstract

The authors report the synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoparticles by wet chemical reduction technique at ambient temperature and its characterization. Ferric chloride hexa-hydrate (FeCl3 · 6H2O) and sodium boro-hydrate (NaBH4) were used for synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoparticles at ambient temperature. The elemental composition of the synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles was determined by energy dispersive analysis of x-rays technique. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) technique was used for structural characterization of the nanoparticles. The crystallite size of the nanoparticles was determined using XRD data employing Scherrer's formula and Hall–Williamson's plot. Surface morphology of as-synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles was studied by scanning electron microscopy. High resolution transmission electron microscopy analysis of the as-synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles showed narrow range of particles size distribution. The optical absorption of the synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles was studied by UV–vis–NIR spectroscopy. The as-synthesized nanoparticles were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy technique for absorption band study in the infrared region. The magnetic properties of the as-synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles were evaluated by vibrating sample magnetometer technique. The thermal stability of the as-synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles was studied by thermogravimetric technique. The obtained results are elaborated and discussed in details in this paper.