Synthesis and Morphology Control of Gold/Iron Oxide Magnetic Nanocomposites via a Simple Aqueous Method

Gold/iron oxide nanocomposites offer the promise of combining the unique traits of both gold and iron oxide nanomaterials to enable new applications. In this work, a simple and safe method has been established whereby the morphology of gold material in gold/iron oxide nanocomposites can be controlled to be nanowire or nanosphere by adjusting the initial molar ratio of citrate-coated iron oxide nanoparticles to auric acid. Gold/iron oxide nanowires and nanospheres were synthesized through this method. Their structural, optical, and magnetic properties were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). These materials substantially maintained the optical properties of gold nanomaterials and magnetic features of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles.