Investigating the Stabilisation Effect of Carboxylic vs. Hydroxyl Groups on Fe₃O₄ and Fe₃O₄@Au Nanoparticles

Abstract

The high-temperature solution phase reaction of iron(III) acetylacetonate, Fe(acac)₃ and 1,2-hexadecanediol was used to synthesise iron oxide and gold-coated iron oxide nanoparticles. Different surface functionalities, such as sebacic acid (SA) and 1, 10–Decanediol (DD), were introduced on the surface of the particles to investigate the stabilising effect of carboxylic groups (SA) in comparison to the hydroxyl groups (DD). Nanoparticle thermal stability, composition, state of aggregation, size and morphology were investigated and the results from techniques such as Fourier Transform-Infra Red spectroscopy (FT-IR), Ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and thermal analysis are discussed.

Keywords:

• 1,10-Decanediol
• Fe₃O₄
• Fe₃O₄@Au
• magnetite
• nanoparticles
• sebacic acid

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank The University of KwaZulu-Natal for the TEM analysis. We would also like to thank Mintek for permission to publish the paper and for financial support.