Preparation of Fe3O4/MnOOH core–shell nanoparticles by a high-frequency impinging stream reactor

Abstract

Well-defined Fe3O4/MnOOH nanoparticles with 61.1emu·g−1 in magnetization intensity and 90.53m2·g−1 in surface area have been synthesized by a new-style of high-frequency impinging stream (HFIS) reactor. In this reactor, two streams first collided together to form nano Fe3O4 suspension, which subsequently flew through an S-shaped main channel to generate high-frequency reversing high-gravity fields. At the same time, 24 thin liquid sheets impinged into the main channel at the frequencies higher than 100Hz to create nano Fe3O4/MnOOH colloids. The obtained powders were characterized by transmission electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectrometer (TEM/EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunner–Emmet–Teller (BET) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Experimental results indicated that low coating ratio prolonged the induction period of heterogeneous nucleation. The high-frequency impingements of 24 thin liquid sheets greatly accelerated the macro-mixing and the initial dispersion. The high-frequency reversing high-gravity fields promoted the meso- and micro-mixing. As a result, nano Fe3O4 cores were fleetly and uniformly covered by MnOOH precursor. As a continuously operated and static high-gravity reactor, the high-frequency impinging stream (HFIS) reactor is being developed to the large-scaled and low-cost production of various nanocomposites.