journal article·2026-07-20Open access

Solvent Oxidation‐Directed Synthesis of Highly Crystalline Iron Oxide Nanoparticles With Near‐Bulk Magnetization

Lukas Hertle, Valentin Gantenbein, Joaquim Llacer‐Wintle, Mingchen Ma, Ziyu Li, Pu Luo, Zhengwei Tan, Fei Chen, Chen Chen, Chuanyi Wu, Chenxin Gao, Chenyi Zhou, Carlos Franco, Pere Bruna, Josep Puigmartí‐Luis, Xiang‐Zhong Chen, Bradley J. Nelson, Salvador Pané

Abstract

ABSTRACT Achieving iron oxide nanoparticles with well‐defined morphology and near‐bulk saturation magnetization remains challenging. Here, we report a simple Fe(acac) 3 ‐based thermal decomposition strategy that produces highly crystalline Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles with tunable sizes and near‐bulk magnetization. We identify solvent oxidation as the critical parameter governing this performance. We reveal that the polar oxygenated species generated during controlled oxidation of the solvent benzyl ether (BE) can coordinate to Fe centers and form new intermediate complexes immediately upon simple mixing. These complexes can alter nucleation–growth kinetics, reducing nucleation density while accelerating particle growth, thereby enabling size control without compromising crystallinity. Consequently, the resulting nanoparticles maintain high crystalline quality and magnetite‐rich stoichiometry, accounting for their enhanced magnetic performance. Moreover, the strategy is compatible with conventional facet‐tuning methods and extendable to doped ferrite systems. Unlike iron oleate routes, which often yield non‐stoichiometric particles with reduced magnetization, or systems requiring complex surfactant engineering, our approach achieves high magnetization through straightforward solvent oxidation control. This work provides a simplified strategy for achieving structurally uniform, magnetically optimized iron oxide nanocrystals.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Iron oxide chemistry and applications · Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery · Magnetic Properties and Synthesis of Ferrites

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Multi‐Scale Robotics Lab, Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems ETH Zürich Zurich Switzerland

International Institute for Intelligent Nanorobots and Nanosystems, College of Intelligent Robotics and Advanced Manufacturing, State Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic Science and Technology, Shanghai Frontiers Science Research Base of Intelligent Optoelectronics and Perception, Institute of Optoelectronics Fudan University Shanghai China

Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Extreme Environment Functional Materials Yiwu Research Institute of Fudan University Yiwu China

College of Physics and Electronic Information Engineering Zhejiang Normal University, Zhejiang Institute of Photoelectronics & Zhejiang Institute for Advanced Light Source Jinhua 321004 China

Departament de Física BarcelonaTech (UPC) Institut De Tècniques Energètiques (INTE) Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale Science and Engineering Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya Barcelona Spain

Departament de Ciència dels Materials i Química Física Institut De Química Teòrica i Computacional University of Barcelona Barcelona Spain

Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Pg. Lluís Companys 23 Barcelona Spain

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality · Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung

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