Green synthesis of uniform magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles and micron cubes

Single-crystalline Fe3O4 microcubes were obtained through a green hydrothermal procedure using Fe3+, Fe2+ and H2O2 as starting materials. The structures and morphologies of the as-prepared samples were characterized in detail by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) respectively. Magnetite (Fe3O4) cubes averaging 3 microm in diameter were synthesized by H2O2 oxidation of Fe3+ and Fe2+ under neutral conditions. The contrastive experiments were designed to elucidate the effects of Fe3+, Fe2+ and H2O2 on the morphology of the final products. Irregular and ellipsoidal Fe2O3 structures were obtained by H2O2 oxidation of Fe3+ and Fe2+ respectively. Meanwhile, Fe3O4 nanotubes and nanoparticles were obtained when H2O2 was replaced by NH4HCO3 and urea respectively. The results show that H2O2, Fe3+ and Fe2+ in the reactive system play critical roles in obtaining micrometric cube-like Fe3O4. While, other nanometric Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 particles with tube-like and other morphologies could also be developed by controlling the reaction parameters.