Synthesis of monodisperse organic- and water-soluble iron oxide nanoparticles using Fe(OH)3 as precursor

The precursors used to prepare high-quality nanoparticles by high-temperature decomposition are expensive and toxic organometallic compounds. Fe(OH)3, an inexpensive and environmentally friendly iron-containing compound, is for the first time introduced to act as an precursor to generate monodisperse iron oxide nanoparticles. The obtained nanoparticles are characterised by transmission electronic microscopy, IR, XRD and vibrating sample magnetometer. Organic-soluble ferromagnetic rod-like and superparamagnetic dot-like nanoparticles with the size ranging from 12 to 25 nm are obtained in a nonpolar solvent by adjusting reaction parameters, such as surfactant concentration and reaction time. Water-soluble nanoparticles can be synthesised when a bipolar solvent is used instead of nonpolar solvent. The results show that Fe(OH)3 is a promising precursor for the high-temperature decomposition method.