Effect of concentration of sodium silicate solution in the synthesis of silica-coated magnetite nanoparticles by ultrasonication

Abstract

An ex-situ silica coating of magnetite nanoparticles synthesized electrochemically had been successfully carried out by ultrasonication. An aqueous solution of sodium silicate had been used as silica source.The Si-O-Si, Si-O and Fe-O-Si bonds on the surface of the silica-coated magnetite had been successfully identified using FTIR. Reduction in particle size due to the influence of ultrasound was studied using SEM. Enhancement in the specific surface area of the particles due to the silica coating and reduction in particle size was learned through BET analysis. The Characters of the resulting silica-coated magnetite were influenced by the concentration of sodium silicate solution. The greater the concentration of sodium silicate solution, the smaller the particle crystallinity and the larger the particles surface area was produced. The resulting silica-coated magnetite has a surface area of 38.171 to 67.993 m2/g, otherwise the non-coated particles only has a surface area of 27.894 m2/g. This silica-coated magnetite nanoparticles has more potent as an adsorbent than that of the bare magnetite. Besides that, the presence of silanol groups on its surface makes an opportunity for further functionalization needed for some applications.