Single-phase magnetite with high saturation magnetization synthesized via modified solution combustion synthesis procedure

Abstract A simple modification was employed in solution combustion method to produce single-phase magnetite nano-particles using different fuels. The applied adjustment resulted in the elimination of required equipment such as a vacuum pump and argon gas for production of inert atmosphere. Thermodynamic calculations were carried out to investigate the required condition for the synthesis of magnetite as well. Furthermore, two mechanisms for the formation of magnetite were discussed. It was inferred that the formation mechanism of magnetite was strongly depended on the used fuel. Glycine was the fuel which could lead to the synthesis of single-phase Fe3O4 nano-particles with high degree of crystallinity. SEM and TEM results illustrated that synthesized particles were porous and spherical. Obtained powder using glycine at φ = 1 had saturation magnetization of 64 emu/g while decreasing the φ value to 0.95 improved the Ms value to 99 emu/g. Particle size, specific surface area, and zeta potential values were 50 nm, 52 m2/g and − 30 mv respectively. Investigation of Curie temperature (Tc) demonstrated that Tc of combusted powder was about 680 K.