FABRICATION OF Fe3O4 MAGNETIC FLUID BY POLY (ACRYLIC ACID) FOR BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Fe3O4 nanosystems of different sizes were synthesized by thermal decomposition method in organic solvent. Magnetic fluid based on Fe3O4 nanoparticles was prepared by using poly acrylic acid (PAA) as a phase transfer agent. The structure, morphology and magnetic properties of samples were studied by: X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). XRD results indicated that all samples had spinel single phase structure with average crystaline size less than 15 nm. TEM images showed that the average size of samples were nearly equal to those of XRD. The highest value of saturation magnetization obtained at room temperature for the sample synthesized at optimal reaction time and temperature (2 hours and 298 oC, respectively) after phase transferring was 75 emu/g. The linkage between magnetic nanoparticles’ surface and functional groups of PAA was confirmed by FT-IR spectra. Simultaneously, the particle size and stability of magnetic fluid were evaluated by DLS and Zeta potential. These results demonstrated the narrow size distribution and high stability of nanosystem. The important point was that the phase transfer contributed to enhance of saturation magnetization of samples (about 5 % of the initial ones). Magnetic fluid based on Fe3O4 nanoparticles with high homogeneity, high saturation magnetization and good stability promised a potential application in biomedical, especially in magnetic hyperthermia and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.