Synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoflowers by a simple and novel solvothermal process

Fe3O4 nanoflowers were prepared by a simple and novel solvothermal process. Iron pentacarbonyl (Fe(CO)(5)) and absolute ethanol were used as the iron source and solvent, respectively. X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectroscopy results showed that the as-prepared product was pure cube phase Fe3O4 without any impurity. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy studies revealed that the product consisted of several uniform flower-like nanostructures with an average size of ca. 100 nm. The nanollowers consisted of many irregular polyhedrons as building blocks. A comparative experiment indicated that pure cube phase Fe3O4 cannot be obtained by replacing the ethanol solvent with ethylene glycol. Magnetic analysis revealed that the Fe3O4 nanoflowers had a superparamagnetic property with a saturation magnetization of 82.6 emu g(-1) (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.