Synthesis and surface treatment of magnetite nanoparticles for tuning hydrophobicity and colloidal stability

Post-synthetic surface modification of magnetite nanoparticles synthesized by a modified co-precipitation process was carried out with triethoxy-terminated perfluoropolyether (PFPE) oligomers. The chemisorption of PFPE oligomers on the surface of magnetites was confirmed by ATR-FTIR and TGA analyses. The efficiency of surface modification of the oligomer to prevent the aggregation of magnetite nanoparticles was studied with the dynamic light scattering technique by measuring the hydrodynamic diameter and polydispersity index of the surface treated nanoparticles, together with their zeta potential. Aggregation kinetics profiles were constructed for surface treated nanoparticles. The obtained data was compared with magnetite nanoparticles treated with critic acid, to assess the efficiency of the surface modification with the PFPE oligomers. The comparison showed that the bifunctional PFPE oligomer treated nanoparticles are characterized by improved colloidal stability and hydrophobicity.