Tunneling the size of iron oxide NPs using different alcohols and proportions water-alcohol

In this work the properties of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) synthesized by electrochemical method using different water-alcohol proportions and alcohols have been investigated. The syntheses were carried out using 99% iron foils acting electrodes in a 0.04 M NaCl solutions at room temperature applying 22 mAcm-2 on the working electrode, mostly obtaining magnetite nanoparticles. The impact of the electrolyte in the size of the synthesized MNPs has been evaluated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), chronopotentiometric studies, and magnetic characterization. The results have shown that nanoparticles can be obtained in the range of 6 to 26 nm depending on the type of alcohol and the proportions in the mixture of water-alcohol. The same trend has been observed for all alcohols. As the proportion of these in the medium increases, the nanoparticles obtained are smaller in size. This trend is maintained until a certain proportion of alcohol: 50% for methanol, and 60% for the rest of alcohols, proportions where obtaining a single phase of magnetite is not favored.