Magnetic and power absorption measurements on iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized by thermal decomposition of Fe(acac)<inf>3</inf>

Abstract

Iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles with diameters d, 7 nm ≤ d ≤ 12 nm, were synthesized by thermal decomposition of Fe(acac)3. Different experimental conditions, keeping constant concetration of Fe ions in solvent, showed that the heating rates is the most important parameter determining the final particle size. Use of two different solvents, 1-eicosene and 1-octadecene, yielded similar nanoparticle sizes (7.1 nm ≤ d ≤ 7.5 nm), but different magnetic anisotropies. All samples were superparamagnetic at room temperature. Spin disordering was inferred in samples coated with trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) co-ligand in addition to oleic acid and oleyamine. The heating ability of ∼12 nm-sized nanoparticles dispersed in hexane under alternating magnetic fields (3.98 kA/m ≤ H0 ≤ 23.87 kA/m; 229.3 kHz ≤ f ≤ 828 kHz) has been studied, finding a nearly quadratic dependence upon H0, as expected from the linear response theory.