Water Dispersible Fe/Fe-Oxide Core-Shell Structured Nanoparticles for Potential Biomedical Applications

In this paper, we report the synthesis and characterization of water dispersible core-shell structured Fe/Fe-oxide with average size 13 plusmn1.4 nm and Fe-oxide nanoparticles. Unlike the previously reported different approaches, both types of particles can be synthesized by following the same route with a small variation in the Fe(CO)
₅
molar concentration and oxygen free environments. The oleate/oleylamine coated nanoparticles were surface modified with tetra-methyl-ammonium-hydroxide (TMAOH) to make them water dispersible. TGA analysis provided direct evidence that TMAOH adds to the surface of the oleic acid and oleylamine coated particles making them well disperse and stable in water as is suggested from the zeta potential measurements also.