Microwave Assisted Synthesis of Ferrite Nanoparticles: Effect of Reaction Temperature on Particle Size and Magnetic Properties

The preparation of ferrite magnetic nanoparticles of different particle sizes by controlling the reaction temperature using microwave assisted synthesis is reported. The iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized at two different temperatures viz., 45 and 85 degrees C were characterized using techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorinnetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The average size of iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized at 45 and 85 degrees C is found to be 10 and 13.8 nm, respectively, and the nanoparticles exhibited superparamagantic behavior at room temperature. The saturation magnetization values of nanoparticles synthesized at 45 and 85 degrees C were found to be 67 and 72 emu/g, respectively. The increase in particle size and saturation magnetization values with increase in incubation temperature is attributed to a decrease in supersaturation at elevated temperature. The Curie temperature was found to be 561 and 566 degrees C for the iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized at 45 and 85 degrees C, respectively. The FTIR spectrum of the iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized at different temperatures exhibited the characteristic peaks that corresponded to the stretching of bonds between octahedral and tetrahedral metal ions to oxide ions. Our results showed that the ferrite nanoparticle size can be varied by controlling the reaction temperature inside a microwave reactor.