Preparation and Characterization of Gold-Loaded Magnetite/Silica Core-Shell Composites

The fabrication of gold-loaded magnetite/silica core-shell particles was presented in this paper. First, 250 nm of magnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were prepared by solvothermal reaction. Then, the Fe₃O₄ particles were coated by SiO₂, and Au nanoparticles (AuNPs), respectively. The core-shell structure of these microspheres was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Power X-ray diffraction (XRD). The magnetic property of the core-shell microspheres was investigated at room temperature. The results indicated that the core-shell composites had a well-retained high magnetic intensity, thus it can be easily separated from the mixture in less than a few minutes by simply using a magnet.