Effect of dispersant on preparation of colloidal magnetite nanocrystals

Abstract

Nanometer scale magnetite particles were prepared in a very low concentration dispersing system with a dispersant. The average size of the particles prepared under optimum conditions was determined by transmission electron microscopy to be approximately 1.8 nm. The magnetic properties were investigated using a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer. The dried samples exhibited approximately super-paramagnetic behavior. Rhelogical property measurement shows that the colloidal magnetite both with and without polyurethane reveals shear thinning. The surface morphology of the films of the magnetite nanoparticles on the glass, as shown by atomic force microscopy (AFM) images, produces well-formed surface structure's that are evenly spaced by the magnetite nanoparticles. It also shows that this is an effective method of surface modification for nanometer scale magnetite.