Issue 92, 2015

Size-controlled synthesis of water-dispersible superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoclusters and their magnetic responsiveness

Abstract

Highly water dispersible and size-controllable superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoclusters were synthesized by a simple solvothermal route with sodium citrate as a surface modifier in a mixed-solvent system with diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG). The Fe3O4 nanoclusters are small-molecule grafted and the size of the Fe3O4 nanoclusters can be effectively controlled by varying the volume ratio of DEG/EG from tens to hundreds of nanometers. Sodium citrate did not only act as a functional ligand anchor on the particle surface to enhance the dispersibility of the magnetite nanoclusters but also controlled the size of the clusters in the reaction. Magnetic measurements revealed the superparamagnetic nature of the magnetic nanoclusters with no coercivity and remanence but with a magnetization saturation of up to 68.0 emu g−1 at room temperature. These monodisperse Fe3O4 nanoclusters can be used for color display and hyperthermia in biomedical applications because of strong magnetic responsiveness. The diffraction color in the visible light can be modulated under the induction of varied external magnetic fields. Furthermore, the temperature of 20 mg mL−1 Fe3O4 (168 nm) water dispersions can be increased by 46.7 °C within 242 s under an alternating current magnetic field.

Graphical abstract: Size-controlled synthesis of water-dispersible superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoclusters and their magnetic responsiveness

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 Jul 2015
Accepted
28 Aug 2015
First published
28 Aug 2015

RSC Adv., 2015,5, 75292-75299

Author version available

Size-controlled synthesis of water-dispersible superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoclusters and their magnetic responsiveness

W. Wang, B. Tang, B. Ju and S. Zhang, RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 75292 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA14354C

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements