A Simple Approach for Immobilization of Fe-Core/Au-Shell Magnetic Nanoparticles on Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes via Cu(I) Huisgen Cycloaddition: Preparation and Characterization

Abstract

In this report, we demonstrated a novel efficient a simple strategy route for the preparation of smart hybrid Fe-core/Au-shell magnetic onto multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) sidewalls via Cu (I)-catalyzed 1, 3-dipolar cycloaddition (“click” coupling). The fabrication of gold-coated iron nanoparticles (Fe@AuNPs) is initially achieved by employing a two-step reverse micelle process. A new azide terminated ligand was first synthesized to change Fe@AuNPs by ligand exchange reaction. The Fe@Au NPs decorated MWNTs (MWNTs-Fe@Au) nanohybrids were synthesized by the reaction of an azide-containing Fe@Au NPs with alkyne-functionalized MWNTs via the Cu (I)-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and Transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) were used to study the changes in surface functionalities and demonstrate the successful immobilization of Fe@Au on CNT surface. In addition, the superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) study revealed that the nanohybrids possess superparamagnetic character which is susceptible to rapid separation under an external magnetic field.