Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid capped superparamagnetic iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles: A novel preparation method and characterization

Abstract

A novel and facile strategy is introduced for the preparation of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) capped magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs). In this strategy, Fe3O4 nanoparticles were electrodeposited from a deposition bath containing 0.005M Fe2+/Fe3+ nitrate and chlorides alts and 1g/L EDTA. A simple deposition mode i.e. constant current and two-electrode set-up was used in the electro-synthesis procedure. The magnetite phase of the deposited nanoparticles was confirmed through XRD and FT-IR analyses. Morphological observations through FE-SEM and TEM confirmed the formation of spherical MNP particles with an average size of 10nm. The EDTA layer on the surface of the electro-synthesized magnetite nanoparticles was proved based on FT-IR, DLS and TG data. Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements confirmed the EDTA capped iron oxide nanoparticles to have a super-paramagnetic nature, since they exhibit a high saturation magnetization (Ms=51.9emug−1), as well as, negligible remnant magnetization (Mr=0.59emug−1) and coercivity (Hc=0.85Oe). Based on the obtained results, the proposed platform can be considered as a fast, simple and efficient method for the preparation of the EDTA capped magnetite nanoparticles.