Influence of carbon-coated iron nanoparticles on the Raman spectrum of liquid ethanol

Raman spectroscopy is applied to study the interactions between carbon-coated iron nanoparticles and ethanol. The spectra reveal changes in the vibrational structure of ethanol, despite dispersion of only a very small amount of nanoparticles. The hydrogen bonding network of ethanol is significantly affected in the presence of the particles. This is revealed by frequency shifts throughout the spectrum as well as the modification of the OH stretching band of the alcohol. The carbon shell of the nanoparticles does not exhibit polar groups, and hence the non-polar interactions in the system are strengthened and the hydrogen bonding is weakened. Copyright (C) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.