Aloe vera plant-extracted solution hydrothermal synthesis and magnetic properties of magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles

Magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized by a novel hydrothermal method using ferric acetylacetonate (Fe(C5H8O2)(3)) and aloe vera plant-extracted solution. The influences of different reaction temperatures and times on the structure and magnetic properties of the synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles were investigated. The synthesized nanoparticles are crystalline and have particle sizes of similar to 6-30 nm, as revealed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results of X-ray diffraction (XRD), High resolution TEM (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) indicate that the synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles have the inverse cubic spinel structure without the presence of any other phase impurities. The hysteresis loops of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles at room temperature show superparamagnetic behavior and the saturation magnetization of the Fe3O4 samples increases with increasing reaction temperature and time.