Preparation of monodisperse ferrite nanocrystals with tunable morphology and magnetic properties

The synthesis of monodisperse magnetic ferrite nanomaterials plays an important role in several scientific and technological areas. In this work, dibasic spinel MFe2O4 (M=Mg, Ni, Co, Fe, Mn) and polybasic spinel ferrite MCoFeO4 (M=Mg, Ni, Mn, MgNi) nanocrystals were prepared by the calcination of layered double hydroxide (LDH) precursors at 900 °C, which was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images demonstrate that the as-obtained spinel ferrites present a single-crystalline nature with uniform particle size and good dispersibility. The composition, morphology, and particle size can be effectively tuned by changing the metal ratio, basicity, reaction time, and temperature of the LDH precursors. In addition, these spinel ferrites show high magnetic saturation values in the range 21.7-84.3 emu g(-1), which maintain a higher level than the previously reported magnetic nanoparticles. Therefore, this work provides a facile approach for the design and fabrication of spinel ferrites with controllable nanostructure and improved magnetism, which could potentially be used in magnetic and biological fields, such as recording media, sensors, drug delivery, and intracellular imaging.