Synthesis and characterization of silica-coated oil-in-water (O/W) magnetic emulsion

Abstract

A stable emulsion of organic ferrofluid in an aqueous medium, known as oil-in-water (O/W) ferrofluid emulsion, was successfully prepared and characterized. The present study introduces a novel approach to synthesize and emulsify ferrofluid, followed by silica coating of the resulting nanoparticles using sol-gel process. The ferrofluid consisted of magnetic nanoparticles stabilized with oleic acid in octane. Both the ferrofluid and the emulsion exhibited spherical morphology, with average sizes of 20 nm and 200 nm, respectively. Characterization methodologies for instance TEM (transmission electron microscopy), DLS (dynamic light scattering), XRD, FTIR, and magnetic measurements were employed to determine the size distribution, crystallinity, morphology, and chemical composition of the nanoparticles.Chemical composition analysis of the prepared nanoparticles was performed using thermogravimetric analysis. This research work demonstrates the possibility of encapsulating O/W magnetic emulsion, promising potential for future bioapplications, emphasizing the importance of efficient and stable O/W ferrofluid emulsions.