Size-controlled synthesis of saccharide-based ferrous nanocomposites in coprecipitation system

Abstract

Different methods of synthesizing iron nanomaterials have been extensively studied. Controlling the nanoparticle size, which is influenced by the synthetic conditions, is considered vital for application. In this study nano-sized iron composites Suc-Fe(II) was synthesized by coprecipitation of ferrous sulfate and sucrose. The yield, particle size distribution (PS) and binding affinity (BA) of Suc-Fe(II) were found to be strongly affected by synthetic conditions, including the molar ratio of raw materials, reaction temperature and time. The results of the quadratic regression orthogonal design method show that the yield and BA are most affected by the molar ratio, whereas PS is most affected by reaction temperature. However, the three parameters are not only affected by each of the three conditions, but also their combined synergistic effect. The designed Suc-Fe(II) nanocomposites with a PS of 750 nm was synthesized under optimized conditions, where the molar ratio, reaction temperature and time were 2.7, 111.5 °C and 40 h, respectively. This size-controlled method for producing nanocomposites was verified, providing a theoretical basis for the synthesis of new nanomaterials.