Phase composition of iron oxide nanoparticles studied using hard X-ray absorption spectroscopy

Abstract

At the surface of iron oxide nanoparticles, an oxidized or disordered layer is often found. Due to the large surface-to-volume ratio of nanomaterials, such a surface layer plays an important role in the overall magnetic properties of the particles. Consequently, it is important to characterize the surface layer if applications of iron oxide nanoparticles, e.g., for magnetic hyperthermia, magnetic particle imaging, or ferrofluidics, are envisaged. In this work, we tuned the phase of the surface layer of 14 nm iron oxide nanoparticles via annealing procedures. The phase composition of the particles is systematically studied using hard X-ray absorption spectroscopy.