Preparation of Fe3O4@SiO2 Nanostructures via Inverse Micelle Method and Study of Their Magnetic Properties for Biological Applications

Subject Areas : International Journal of Bio-Inorganic Hybrid Nanomaterials

Received: 2012-12-22 Accepted : 2013-02-25 Published : 2013-01-01

Keywords: Superparamagnetism, Inverse micelle, Surface modification, Magnetic nanoparticles, Fe3O4@SiO2 Nanostructures,

Abstract :

In this work, we report synthesis of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles at room temperature using microemulsion template phase consisting of cyclohexane, water, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide CTAB as cationic surfactant and butanol as a cosurfactant. Silica surface modification of the as prepared nanoparticles was performed by adding tetraethoxysilane TEOS to alkaline medium. The structure, morphology, and magnetic properties of the products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX),, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) at room temperature. The results revealed formation of iron oxide nanoparticles, with an average size of 8.8-12 nm, a superparamagnetism behavior with fast response to applied magnetic fields and Zero remanence and coercivity.