Large-scale synthesis of uniform spinel ferrite nanoparticles from hydrothermal decomposition of trinuclear heterometallic oxo-centered acetate clusters

A series of uniform spinel ferrite MFe(2)O(4) (M = Ni, Co, Mn, and Zn) nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully synthesized on a large scale by direct hydrothermal decomposition of the trinuclear heterornetallic oxocentered acetate cluster of [MFe(2)O(CH(3)CO(2))(6)(H(2)O)(3)]center dot nH(2)O in solution. The crystal structure, composition and size of the synthesized NPs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and high-resolution (HRTEM). Magnetic investigation revealed that all the synthesized MFe(2)O(4) NPs showed superparamagnetic properties at room temperature. The possible formation mechanism was also proposed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.