Synthesis of Magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) Nanoparticles from Iron sands by Co - precipitation - U ltrasonic Irradiation Methods

Magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) nanoparticles have been synthesized from iron sands with both coprecipitation and co-precipitation-ultrasonic irradiation methods.X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns showed that Fe 3 O 4 samples generated by these two synthesis methods are in a single phase with a cubic spinel structure.This research investigates the influence of ultrasonic irradiation in the synthesis process including size, morphology, composition and magnetic properties.The morphology of Fe 3 O 4 was characterized by a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) instrument.The TEM image of Fe 3 O 4 synthesized using the ultrasonic irradiation method showed a reduction of the agglomeration of the Fe 3 O 4 particles.Moreover, the TEM images also showed that the primary particles of Fe 3 O 4 prepared by the co-precipitation method tend to agglomerate as the particles cluster, with the particle size ranging from 9 to 33 nm.Meanwhile, Fe 3 O 4 synthesized using the ultrasonic irradiation method tends to construct a primary particle sized about 25 to 37 nm.The magnetic properties that were characterized by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurement showed that Fe 3 O 4 exhibited superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature.