Synthesis of Bare Iron Nanoparticles from Ferrocene Hexane Solution by Femtosecond Laser Pulses

Abstract

Iron-based nanoparticles (FeNPs) have unique and attractive properties such as superparamagnetism, biocompatibility, and catalytic activity. Although the synthesis of precious metal NPs from a metal in liquid and/or metal salt solution by a pulsed laser has been investigated, comparably little effort has been devoted to examine the production of FeNPs. Here we report the synthesis of carbon-shell free spherical NPs of iron oxide (magnetite) from ferrocene hexane solution by femtosecond near infrared laser pulses. Nanosecond UV laser pulses are used to compare the evolution of the particle size distribution as a function of laser irradiation time. The size of NPs remains constant even for extended exposure to femtosecond laser pulses, whereas it grows with exposure to nanosecond laser pulses. The primary particles are generated by photochemical reactions regardless of pulse duration; however, the fragmentation of NPs by successive femtosecond laser pulses regulates the particle size.

Synthesis of Air-Stable Cu Nanoparticles Using Laser Reduction in Liquid

“…The formation of substantial quantities of sub-10 nm Cu NPs in our LRL synthesis is similar to previous LRL results for Au and Ag NPs using well-controlled solvent chemistry [35,45], whereas the large Cu NPs up to ∼100 nm in diameter resemble the large Fe oxide NPs obtained from LRL of ferrocene in hexane [46]. The formation of two distinct size distributions of Cu NPs strongly suggests the participation of two different reaction mechanisms [33], although specific identification of these mechanisms is beyond the scope of this work.…”

“…Although Au is resistant to back-oxidation and HAuCl 4 precursor can be reduced by H 2 O 2 [37], effective production of Ag-containing NPs by LRL requires the addition of OH • scavengers, such as ammonia or isopropyl alcohol, to prevent backoxidation of Ag [40,41,45]. Moreover, the few LRL studies on the non-noble metal Fe report production of only Fe oxides [46,47].…”

Effects of Ligand and Solvent on the Synthesis of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles from Fe(acac)3 Solution by Femtosecond Laser Irradiation

“…Ferrocene (Fe(C5H5)2), [12][13][14] Fe(CO)5, 15 iron(II)acetylacetonate (Fe(C5H7O2)2), 16 and iron(III)acetylacetonate (Fe(C5H7O2)3) 17 have been used as reactants. In most cases, Fe-O NPs were covered with carbon materials.…”

“…12,13,15 We suggest that the choice of reactants (metal 75 complexes) and solvent (aliphatics) as well as pulse duration 76 (femtosecond) and wavelength (near-infrared) of laser pulse 77 is important to produce carbon shell-free metal NPs. 14 Dev." for T. Y.…”

“…Even though 62 acetylacetonate anions may not cover the whole particle 63 surface, this effect is important for regulating the size of Fe-64 O NPs. Of course, laser fragmentation in liquid5,14,27 might 65 play a role in suppressing the particle growth. 66This study demonstrates that the choice of ligands and 67 solvents strongly affects the morphology, primary particle 68size distributions, and dispersion state of Fe-O NPs 69 synthesized from iron complexes by femtosecond laser 70 irradiation.…”