Influence of process parameters on the size, morphology, and structure of magnetic nanoparticles obtained by chemical methods

Abstract

In the last decade, magnetic nanomaterials have been widely used in the fields of chemistry, physics, engineering, and medicine due to their optical, magnetic, and conductive properties, and as contrast agents in magnetic resonance. Their influence in the treatment of cancerous tumors has been evaluated and has sparked great interest in its use in environmental repair systems such as magnetic absorbers that trap metal particles and some contaminants. Here we analyze the influence of process parameters to obtain magnetic nanoparticles under three chemical synthesis methods. Its morphological characterization was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), its elemental composition by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and its structure by x-ray diffraction (XRD). Our results showed that the obtention method had a great influence as evidenced by the variability in nanoparticle sizes. It is worth highlighting that we obtained particles at a nanometric scale, especially Fe3O4 (magnetite) and Fe2O3 (maghemite) structures, with potential superparamagnetism properties that could open a wide range of future applications for the production of these materials at low cost and easy access.