Solvothermal synthesis and magnetic property of magnetic chains self-assembled by Fe3O4 microoctahedrons

The magnetic Fe3O4 microscale chains self-assembled of microoctahedrons have been synthesized via a facile one-pot solution-phase route at 200 degrees C. The result of X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicates that the product is face-centered cubic Fe3O4 and has highly crystalline nature. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) images show that the product consists of larger numbers of Fe3O4 microoctahedrons chains, and the size of microoctahedrons is from 1 to 3 mu m. The effect of NaOH concentration and solvent on the morphologies of the products indicates that appropriate alkaline surrounding and solvent may be propitious to the formation of the uniform Fe3O4 microoctahedrons chains. The magnetic measurements at room temperature indicate that the values of saturation magnetization (85.6 emu/g) and coercivity (65.2 Oe) are different from those of dispersed microoctahedrons due to the different size and the oriented self-assembled structure of microoctahedrons.