Partic. vol. 26 pp. 47-53 (June 2016)
doi: 10.1016/j.partic.2015.09.011

Continuous synthesis of iron oxide (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles via thermal decomposition

William Glasgow^a, Ben Fellows^a, Bin Qi^a, Taghi Darroudi^b, Christopher Kitchens^c, Longfei Ye^d, Thomas M. Crawford^d, O. Thompson Mefford^a,*

mefford@clemson.edu

Abstract

Iron oxide nanoparticles have become of great interest in the medical field for their potential uses in areas such as biomagnetic imaging and hypothermia cancer treatment. Traditionally, particles for these applications are produced through batch-based methodologies. Herein, we demonstrate an alternative continuous flow production method for the synthesis of Fe³O⁴ iron oxide nanoparticles. Advantages of continuous flow over the batch method include consistent formation of uniformly spherical particles, thorough mixing of reactants, and capacity for high-volume particle production. In this study, a continuous flow reaction mechanism was proposed in which stoichiometric control of reactants had the potential to control final particle size. The project was conducted under the supposition that the iron oleate/ligand ratio in the precursor was the greatest size control factor, with a higher ratio resulting in smaller particles. The resulting particles produced by this continuous method were characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and magnetometry.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Continuous flow; Iron oxide; Magnetite; Synthesis