Synthesis, Characterization and Applications of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles - a Short Review

Abstract

Iron oxide is a mineral compound that shows different polymorphic forms, including hematite (α-Fe 2 O 3 ), magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) and maghemite (γ-Fe 2 O 3 ). Solid propulsion technology nanoparticulate materials, such as hematite and maghemite, exhibit high performance on thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate. The enhanced catalytic effect of metallic iron oxide nanoparticles is attributed to their particle size, more active sites and high surface area, which promotes more gas adsorption during thermal oxidation reactions. Nowadays, metallic iron nanoparticles can be synthesized via numerous methods, such as co-precipitation, sol-gel, microemulsion, or thermal decomposition. Although there are data on these synthetic methods in the literature, there is a lack of details related to nanoparticulate oxides and to their characterization techniques. In this context, this short review based on scientific papers, including data from the last two decades, presents methods for obtaining nanoparticulate iron oxides as well as the main aspects of the different characterization techniques and also about the decomposition aspects of these nanomaterials. Morphologies and structures of iron oxides can be characterized through transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. As for textural properties, they are usually determined by physical adsorption techniques.

Plantain Peel Mediated Green Synthesis Iron Oxide Nanoparticles, Surface Functionalization, and Them Performance towards Methylene Blue and Methyl Orange Dye Removal

“…Nanotechnology is a technology to manipulate matter through some chemical and/or physical processes to produce nanostructured materials with novel properties and functions [1]. In recent years, nanostructured materials are attracting great interest in different fields such as research and development [2], biomedical [3], storage media [4], and environmental remediation [5]. The properties that empower the application of nanomaterials in those fields are their sizes (diameter range between 1-100 nanometers) [6], magnetic properties [7], and catalytic properties [8].…”

Pharmaceutical Applications of Iron-Oxide Magnetic Nanoparticles

“…These advantages support their utilization in pharmaceutical applications, and getting suitable drug release control on the target tissues could be beneficial in several clinical situations, such as infections, inflammations, and cancer. However, more toxicological clinical investigations about IOMNPs are necessary.Since the early 1960s, metal oxides were used for magnetic separations [3,16]. Specifically, nanoparticles composed of iron oxide attracted great interest for pharmaceutical applications [1,[3][4][5][6]11,12,17,18].…”

“…However, more toxicological clinical investigations about IOMNPs are necessary.Since the early 1960s, metal oxides were used for magnetic separations [3,16]. Specifically, nanoparticles composed of iron oxide attracted great interest for pharmaceutical applications [1,[3][4][5][6]11,12,17,18]. This mineral compound shows different polymorphic forms, such as hematite, magnetite, and maghemite [19].…”

“…This mineral compound shows different polymorphic forms, such as hematite, magnetite, and maghemite [19]. Iron-oxide magnetic nanoparticles (IOMNPs) can be obtained via several methods (e.g., co-precipitation, sol-gel, microemulsion, and thermal decomposition), displaying unique electrical, optical, and magnetic properties [3]. Moreover, they are utilized to develop dynamic nanoparticle assemblies for pharmaceutical applications [11].IOMNPs are chemically and physically stable, biocompatible, and environmentally safe [3,12,13].…”

Synthesis and Characterization of Magnetic Nanoparticles as a Candidate Draw Solution for Forward Osmosis

“…However, because of their large size compared to inorganic salts and organic compounds, it is not easy to generate significant osmotic pressure using magnetic nanoparticles without proper surface modification. Thus, high surface-area-to-volume ratio of MNPs coated with polyelectrolytes is expected to produce high osmotic pressure [12]. Indeed, it is reported that polyelectrolytecoated MNPs featured an osmotic pressure many folds higher than free polyelectrolyte [13].…”