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High-saturation magnetization in small nanoparticles of Fe3O4 coated with natural oils

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Abstract

The enhancement of nanoparticle’s magnetic properties with a suitable coating is the main tool to increase their potential as an effective candidate for applications in different areas, especially in biomedicine. In the work here reported, Fe3O4 nanoparticles coated with natural oils were synthesized by iron (III) acetylacetonate thermal decomposition and the effects of the coating on the magnetic properties of these particles have been investigated. The oils were extracted from three Amazon fruits seeds: açaí, ucuúba, and bacaba by CO2 supercritical extraction process, and the relative percentage composition of fatty acids were determined by gas chromatography. A systematic study of crystalline, morphological, and magnetic properties revealed a saturation magnetization (Ms) enhancement and high values of the anisotropy constant for Fe3O4 samples when coated with açaí and ucuúba oils, which present a large percentage of saturated total fatty acid. Our results indicate that nanoparticles with sizes smaller than around 5 nm present Ms values as high as that found for bulk Fe3O4 and, consequently, much higher than Ms values for nanoparticles usually coated with oleic acid. The nuclear techniques neutron activation analysis and perturbed angular correlations were used to better characterize the nanoparticles.

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Availability of data and materials

The data and the analysis in the current work are available from the corresponding authors on reasonable request.

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Abbreviations

Ms:

saturation magnetization

XRD:

X-ray diffraction

TEM:

transmission electron microscopy

NAA:

neutron activation analysis

TGA:

thermogravimetric analyzes

SAXS:

small-angle X-ray scattering

PAC:

perturbed angular correlation

ASABE:

American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers

ZFC:

zero-field-cooled

FC:

field-cooled

DTG:

differential thermogravimetric

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the Centro de Radiofarmacia do IPEN by the supply of 111InCl3 solution and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES).

Funding

Financial support of this study was partially provided by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) [grant numbers 473477/2013-0, 304627/2017-8, 430060/2018–1]; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) [grant numbers 2015/16191-5, 2017/50332-0].

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Authors and Affiliations

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Contributions

BSC and APSS: extraction and characterization of natural oils, synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoparticles, characterization of synthesized nanoparticles with XRD and TEM, and preparation of samples with radioactive 111In and measurements of PAC spectroscopy; MSC: synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoparticles, characterization of synthesized nanoparticles with XRD and TEM, and preparation of samples with radioactive 111In and measurements of PAC spectroscopy; GAC: synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoparticles, characterization of synthesized nanoparticles with XRD and TEM, preparation of samples with radioactive 111In and measurements of PAC spectroscopy and drafted the manuscript; CS: synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoparticles, characterization of synthesized nanoparticles with XRD and TEM, preparation of samples with radioactive 111In and measurements of PAC spectroscopy and drafted the manuscript; RHHP and RNCJ: extraction and characterization of natural oils; LI and JGAR: characterization of nanoparticles with SAXS and measurements of magnetization; RSF: characterization of nanoparticles with SAXS and measurements of magnetization, drafted the manuscript; MS: determination of the Fe concentration by NAA; ITM: synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoparticles and preparation of samples with radioactive 111In and measurements of PAC spectroscopy; and ELC: determination of the Fe concentration by NAA and preparation of samples with radioactive 111In and measurements of PAC spectroscopy; AWC: drafted the manuscript and revised and organized the full final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Artur W. Carbonari.

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The authors declare that there are no competing interests.

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Corrêa, B.S., Costa, M.S., Cabrera-Pasca, G.A. et al. High-saturation magnetization in small nanoparticles of Fe3O4 coated with natural oils. J Nanopart Res 22, 68 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-020-4761-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-020-4761-5

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