Sonochemical deposition of air-stable iron nanoparticles on monodispersed carbon spherules

A novel route was used to prepare perfect spherical monodispersed carbon with a smooth surface, which has a surface area of 8 m(2)/g. Air-stable iron nanoparticles with an average size of similar to10 nm were deposited on the surface of preformed carbon spherules with the aid of power ultrasound. This coating was achieved by ultrasonic irradiation of a slurry of carbon spherules and Fe(CO)(5) in diphenylmethane for 90 min under an argon atmosphere. The as-prepared amorphous material was annealed in argon at 700 degreesC, forming air-stable iron deposited on carbon spherules. The product was characterized by XRD, TEM, EDAX, BET surface area, HR-SEM, TGA, DSC, magnetic measurements, electron paramagnetic resonance, and Raman spectroscopy.