Solvothermal synthesis of tunable iron oxide nanorods and their transfer from organic phase to water phase

In this communication, we present a facile solvothermal method to prepare single crystal Fe3O4 nanorods with a tunable aspect ratio (length from 58 to 250 nm, width from 8 to 64 nm). Then the as-prepared oleic acid-capped hydrophobic nanorods were transferred into water phase by oxidation and decomposition of oleic acid with sodium periodate. The water-phased nanorods could be acquired without any changes in morphology and crystallinity.