Growth of Fe-Pt Magnetic Nanoparticles on Silica Particles Modified with Organic Molecules

In the present paper, we describe the formation of an assembly composed of Fe-Pt magnetic nanoparticles on a template particle. The assembly is composed of a magnetic nanoshell for core/shell particles or hollow particles for application in nanomedicine devices. For this purpose, magnetic nanoparticles should be densely accumulated or deposited on template particles, Fe-Pt nanoparticles completely cover silica template particles by modifying them with a polymer such as poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA), polyethyleneimine (PEI), or poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP) followed by the polyol reduction of Fe and Pt compounds. Studies of their morphological, crystallographic, and magnetic properties reveal that Fe-Pt nanoparticles are selectively grown on the polymer-modified silica template particles; the polymer probably supplies nucleation sites for the formation of such nanoparticles. The species of polymer used strongly affects crystallographic and magnetic properties of the nanoparticles, particularly, the atomic ordering of Fe-Pt nanoparticles formed on silica template particles. (C) 2013 The Japan Society of Applied Physics