Facile Hydrothermal Synthesis of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles with Tunable Magnetic Properties

Abstract

We report a facile one-step hydrothermal approach to the synthesis of iron oxide (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles (NPs) with controllable diameters, narrow size distribution, and tunable magnetic properties. In this approach, the iron oxide NPs were synthesized by oxidation of FeCl₂·4H₂O in basic aqueous solution under an elevated temperature and pressure. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction studies reveal that the particles are highly crystalline and that the diameters of the particles can be tuned from 15 to 31 nm through the variation of the reaction conditions. The NPs exhibit high saturation magnetization in the range of 53.3−97.4 emu/g and their magnetic behavior can be either ferromagnetic or superparamagnetic depending on the particle size. A superconducting quantum interference device magnetorelaxometry study shows that the size of the NPs significantly affects the detection sensitivity. The investigated iron oxide NPs may find many potential biological applications in cancer diagnosis and treatment.