Synthesis of Fe₃O₄ Nanoparticles Prepared by Various Surfactants and Studying their Characterizations

Magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles were prepared simply by the reverse co-precipitation method from the solution of ferrous/ferric mixed salt in the presence of cationic surfactant (cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide, CTAB) and nonionic surfactant (Polyethylene glycol, PEG) in two concentrations. Meanwhile, Fe3O4 nanoparticles without surfactant are also synthesized under the same condition for comparison. In addition via the reverse co-precipitation method, the pH which is an important factor in synthesis of magnetite was controlled at high values easily. The experimental results reveal that addition of surfactants affected on the size and morphology of the nanoparticles based on the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) characterizations.