Controlled Synthesis and Characterization of Monodisperse Fe3O4 Nanoparticles

Monodisperse Fe3O4 nanoparticles were successfully synthesized through the thermal decomposition of iron acetylacetonate in octadecene solvent in the presence of oleic acid and oleylamine. The influences of experimental parameters, such as reacting temperature, amounts and kinds of surfactants, solvents, oleic acid and oleylamine, on the size and shape of monodisperse Fe3O4 nanoparticles were discussed. The phase structures, morphology, and size of the as-prepared products were investigated in detail by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Magnetic property was measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) at room temperature, which revealed that Fe3O4 nanoparticles were of ferromagnetism with a saturation magnetization (M-s) of 74.0 emu/g and coercivity (H-c) of 72.6 Oe.