Synthesis and characterization of Fe3O4/SiO2 composite with in-situ method: TEOS as SiO2 NPs precursor

The aim study, Fe3O4/SiO2 composites have been synthesized through two stages; first, the synthesis of Fe3O4 particles from iron sand material (from Lumajang area, in Indonesia); second, the synthesis of Fe3O4/SiO2 using the in-situ method by mixing Fe3O4 nanoparticles with ammonia, ethanol, and TEOS (as precursor SiO2 Nanoparticles) in one pot as a chemical reaction site. The Fe3O4/SiO2 composites were then characterized using XRD and FTIR, VSM and TEM. Characterization results showed that the phase structure of the Fe3O4/SiO2 composite was successfully formed. The findings are supported by the functional group vibration data on FTIR, and the identified absorption pattern has Fe-O-Fe and Si-O-Si bonds which states that the surface modification of Fe3O4 has been successfully carried out using SiO2. The VSM test results showed that the magnetization saturation of Fe3O4/SiO2 composites was 18 emus/g and based on the TEM test results it was seen that Fe3O4 particles were coated by SiO2 particles with Fe3O4/SiO2 particle size of similar to 100 nm.