Facile and economical synthesis of superparamagnetic magnetite nanoparticles coated with oleic acid using sonochemical route

Abstract

A facile and low cost sonochemical technique was developed to synthesize oleic coated superparamagnetic magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles. A combination of precipitation of ferrous chloride and ultrasonic cavitation was employed to produce the magnetite nanoparticles. It was found that ultrasonic cavitation can reduce the average particle size and heating temperature can also affected the size distribution of the produced nanoparticles. The FTIR analysis showed that the oleic acid molecules were chemisorbed onto the Fe3O4 nanoparticles as a carboxylate. The oleic coated magnetite nanoparticles with the size of 3-11 nm and the highest magnetization of 34.38 emu/g were fabricated by this technique.