Studies on Nanostructure and Magnetic Behaviors of Mn-Doped Black Iron Oxide Magnetic Fluids Synthesized from Iron Sand

Abstract

Manganese (Mn)-doped black iron oxide (Fe3O4) magnetic fluids in the system of MnxFe[Formula: see text]O4 were successfully synthesized from natural magnetite (iron sand) by using co-precipitation method at room temperature. The analyses of the small angle neutron scattering (SANS) data by applying a log-normal sphere with a mass fractal models for [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] and two log-normal spheres with a single mass fractal models for [Formula: see text], 0.75 and 1 revealed that the primary particles of the MnxFe[Formula: see text]O4 fluids tended to decrease from 3.8[Formula: see text]nm to 1.5[Formula: see text]nm along with the increasing fraction of Mn contents. The fractal dimension ([Formula: see text]) increased from about 1.2 to 2.7 as the Mn contents were increasing; which physically represents an aggregation of the MnxFe[Formula: see text]O4 particles in the fluids growing up from 1 to 3 dimensions to consolidate a more compact structure. The magnetization curves of the fluids exhibited an increasing saturation magnetization from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text], and a decreasing on [Formula: see text] and 0.75, with the maximum achievement of [Formula: see text]. These phenomena may probably be due to the combined effects, arising from cationic and dopant distributions, aggregation and its size, and also fractal dimension. Furthermore, the decrease of blocking temperature of the MnxFe[Formula: see text]O4 magnetic fluids could be associated with the reduced particle sizes, while the freezing temperature had its highest peak intensity when it collectively occurred with the blocking temperature at a similar point of about 270[Formula: see text]K.