Physico-chemical properties of silica coated superparamagnetic magnetite nanoparticles synthesized by non-seeded process

摘要

The science of core-shell nanoparticles requires investigation into several physical and chemical properties of the composite nanoparticles. Unlike the conventional sol-gel or the reverse microemulsion micelle method, we presented here a non-seeded process of encapsulating superparamagnetic magnetite nanoparticles (SPMN) with silica. Physico-chemical analysis of the product was used to confirm the result of the coating procedure. Colloidal suspension of SPMN and silica nanoparticles were synthesised through coprecipitation and sol-gel method respectively. Afterwards, both colloidal suspensions of SPMN and silica nanoparticles were sonicated to encapsulate the SPMN with silica. Elemental mapping of the composite particles with electron spectroscopy imaging (ESI) demonstrates the core-shell arrangement of the SPMN and silica. The X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) showed the silica shell to be in amorphous form. FTIR analysis further confirmed the chemical properties of the product to be silica coated SPMN.