Controlled synthesis of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles: Magnetite or maghemite?

Today, magnetic nanoparticles are present in multiple medical and industrial applications. We take a closer look at the synthesis of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles through the co-precipitation of iron salts in an alkaline environment. The variation of the synthesis parameters (ion concentration, temperature, stirring rate, reaction time and dosing rate) change the structure and diameter of the nanoparticles. Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Magnetic nanoparticles ranging from 5 to 16 nm in diameter were synthesized and their chemical structure was identified. Due to the evaluation of Raman spectra, TEM and XRD, the magnetite and maghemite nanoparticles can be observed and the proportion of phases and the particle size can be related to the synthesis conditions. We want to highlight the use of Raman active modes A_1g of spinel structured iron oxides to determine the content of magnetite and maghemite in our samples. Magnetite nanoparticles can be derived from highly alkaline conditions even without establishing an inert atmosphere during the synthesis. The correlation between the particle properties and the various parameters of the synthesis was modelled with linear mixture models. The two models can predict the particle size and the oxidation state of the synthesized nanoparticles, respectively. The modeling of synthesis parameters not only helps to improve synthesis conditions for iron oxide nanoparticles but to understand crystallization of nanomaterials.