Pure iron nanoparticles prepared by electric arc discharge method in ethylene glycol

¹ Department of Physics, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, P.O. Box 14115-175, Tehran, Iran
² Department of Physics, Yasouj University, Yasouj 75914-353, Iran

^a e-mail: yazdania@modares.ac.ir

Received: 28 July 2011
Revised: 16 July 2012
Accepted: 30 July 2012
Published online: 1 October 2012

Abstract

Pure iron nanoparticles (NPs) are fabricated using a simple and low-cost electric arc-discharge method in ethylene glycol (EG). The effect of different arc discharge currents (10, 20 and 30 A) on the size and optical absorption of the NPs is studied. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and UV-visible spectroscopy data indicate that at the arc current of 10 A, the size of the particles is about 103 nm, and it can raise the arc current leading to larger NPs. UV-visible spectroscopy data show that the solvent gets more and more transparent with time, an effect which, sonication, proves that is related to agglomeration of the NPs. The evidence of pure Fe NPs is investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement the average size of which is about 14 nm using Scherrer’s relation. Magnetization measurements of the samples are carried out by alternating gradient force magnetometer (AGFM). These results have shown that the arc discharge method is an effective method for preparing magnetic fluids in one step and EG is the effective medium for caring Fe NPs against oxidation. Therefore, the method can pave the way for the synthesis of other NPs such as Fe, Fe-Co, Fe-Pt and iron oxide.