Synthesis of Shape Controlled Ferrite Nanoparticles by Sonochemical Technique

Abstract

Synthesis of magnetic iron oxides/ferrites in the nano scale by sonochemical synthesis has become prominent recently. This technique facilitates the synthesis of magnetic particles in the nano scale attributed to the hotspot mechanism arising due to acoustic cavitation induced chemical reaction. Generally volatile organometallic precursor compounds favoring the formation of fully amorphous particles have been used to synthesize various nano magnetic materials. We report here the synthesis of ultrafine, <10 nm magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles by sonochemical technique starting with a non-volatile precursor iron salt such as iron citrate which seems to favor the formation of semi crystalline/crystalline particles as the reaction takes place either in the interfacial region or in the bulk solution. Mono dispersed, ultra fine, ∼4 nm spherical shaped magnetic maghemite particles having a saturation magnetization of 58.2 emu/g and coercivity of 118 Oe were obtained at low values of pH, 10 while higher pH, 11–13 favored the formation of elongated, cylindrical, acicular particles with a reduced magnetization. The coercivity was also found to decrease with increasing pH, with it being 118 Oe at pH 10 and 3 Oe at pH 13. When the ultrasound amplitude/intensity was low, 38% heat treatment of the samples at 300 °C (at pH 10) was required to make them crystalline, while application of high intensity ultrasound, 50% amplitude served as a single step mechanism for obtaining crystalline maghemite particles. The maghemite particles obtained at a pH of 10 could find applications in information storage media.