Zn-Doped Fe3O4 Nanosheet Formation Induced by EDA with High Magnetization and an Investigation of the Formation Mechanism

Abstract

Ethylenediamine (EDA) was always used as an additive to modify nanomaterial formation. However, the effect of EDA on the nanomaterial formation process has not been studied in detail. In the present study, Zn-doped Fe3O4 magnetic nanosheets with a high magnetization and surface area were synthesized by a facile one-step solvothermal method, where EDA was added to the reaction system. The formation mechanism was first studied in detail by using an in situ calorimetric method. Compared to Zn-doped Fe3O4 clusters synthesized by the same method without EDA, the complex formation, as [Fe(EDA)3]3+ and [Zn(EDA)3]2+, prevented alkoxide (Fe2(C2H4O2)3 and ZnC2H4O2) formation and resulted in some reactions occurring at higher temperature. At the same time, the (111) facets of Zn-doped Fe3O4 became stable, which resulted in nanosheet formation. And the effect of EDA on the magnetization of the sample can be explained by the Zn2+ distributions at the tetrahedral (A site) and octahedral (B site) sites. These results demonstrated further that the EDA can change the Zn-doped Fe3O4 formation mechanism, which has not been reported before as we know.