Venky Feng

October 23, 2015

Synthesis of Octanoic Acid Coated γ-Fe2O3 Nanoparticles and Preparation of Nanoparticle Thin Films using Mixed Solvent System

Highly crystalline and monodispersed octanoic acid coated γ-Fe2O3 magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized by the thermal decomposition of iron(0) pentacarbonyl. Different ratios of chloroform and methanol (5:1 to 1:1) were used as the dispersing agent for the nanoparticles. By using the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique, compressed monolayers of nanoparticles at the air-water interface were prepared. The monolayers were then transferred onto carbon coated Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) grids using either the LB or Langmuir-Schaefer (LS) methods. TEM images reveal that highly crystalline packing of nanoparticles can be achieved by preparing LB films using the (4:1) chloroform/methanol mixed solvent system. The average interparticle spacing is determined to be 1.880±0.428 nm. The interparticle spacing is comparable with the theoretical prediction of 1.789 nm, which shows octanoic acid does not undergo interdigitation during the packing process.