A rapid and efficient thermal decomposition approach for the synthesis of manganese-zinc/oleylamine core/shell ferrite nanoparticles

This paper presents the effect of adding different amounts of zinc into the composition of Zn-Mn/oleylamine core/shell ferrite nanoparticles (NPs). For this purpose, acetylacetonate as a main precursor, oleylamine as a surfactant and surface modifier, and stearyl alcohol as a co-surfactant were used for thermal decomposition synthesis of this ferrite. Monodispersed core/shell ferrite NPs synthesized with several compositions. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed single-phase nanoparticles around 10 nm without any impurities. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed single-phase spinel with ultra-thin layers of oleylamine on the surfaces that make the particles separated from each other. Thermogravimetric studies could also measure the amount of surfactant around the NPs. Moreover, the DC magnetic properties of the samples were studied using the vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The M-H curves for all the samples showed negligible hysteresis loops indicating the superparamagnetic behaviour of the NPs. Furthermore, maximum saturation magnetization was measured for the sample with Mn0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4 with 45 amu.gr(-1), suggesting that this composition could be an excellent candidate for biomedical applications such as hyperthermia and imaging. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.