Effect of reaction protocol on the nature and size of iron oxide nano particles obtained through solventless synthesis using iron(II)acetate: structural, magnetic and morphological studies

Magnetite and hematite nanoparticles (~ 20 nm size) have been synthesized by solventless thermal decomposition of iron(II)acetate in air under different reaction protocols. The structure of the decomposed materials is investigated by FT-IR and powder XRD, while the morphology of the particles formed was studied by SEM/TEM. The magnetic phases of the materials are quantitatively identified by 57 Fe Mӧssbauer spectroscopy. EDX was used for elemental analysis. The results obtained from FT-IR, XRD and Mӧssbauer studies explicitly establish that the materials obtained are iron oxides (magnetite and hematite). The study shows a reaction time- and temperature-dependent conversion of magnetite to hematite. The underlying solid state reactions have been discussed. The present study comes across that a single organo-iron precursor can provide different pure phases of iron oxide nanoparticles depending on the reaction protocol.