Fluorescent Superparamagnetic γ-Fe2O3 Hollow Nanoparticles: Synthesis and Surface Modification by One-Pot Co-precipitation Method

In this paper, fluorescent superparamagnetic Fe2O3 hollow nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by a template-free one-pot reaction. It was indicated that hollow nanoparticles with 8 nm in size formed in presence of 1,10-phenanthroline (Phen) ligand without employing any hard template, high temperature or additional pressure. Furthermore, various concentrations of the grafting ligand as well as different reaction temperatures were adjusted to identify magnetic properties of the products. An inverse relationship was observed between the amount of the adsorbed ligand and M-sat of the prepared sample and it was assessed that ligand concentration and reaction temperature have crucial roles on magnetic properties of the final products. The obtained products were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer, Ultra-violet spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The formation pathway of hollow-shaped nanoparticles is proposed to be due to the special arrangement of the Phen molecules around initial iron oxide nuclei.