Solvothermal synthesis of MnFe2O4 nanoparticles: The role of polymer coating on morphology and magnetic properties

Manganese spinel ferrite nanoparticles were synthesized by a solvothermal route based on high temperature decomposition of metal nitrates in the presence of different contents of Triethylene glycol. This simple and low cost method can be applied to prepare large quantities of nanoparticles (tens of grams). Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) confirmed that nanoparticles with a good crystalline quality were obtained. A good agreement between the average particle size calculated by PXRD and TEM was observed. Fourier-transform infrared spectra showed that polymer molecules have the tendency to form bonds with the surface of ferrite nanoparticles reducing the surface spin disorder, and then enhancing the saturation magnetization (MS). Therefore, much higher MS value (up to~91 emu/g at 5 K) was observed compared with that of bare nanoparticles without surfactant. The blocking temperature showed a remarkable shift to lower values with increasing the polymer starting amount. In addition, by increasing polymer initial content, a more homogeneous size distribution was obtained and the initial strongly interacting superspin glass behavior changed to a weakly interacting superparamagnetic state.