Synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoparticles with enhanced properties via sonoelectrochemical approach: A comparative study with electrochemical and hydrothermal method

Magnetic nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution are currently having a scientific and technological interest in multiple research areas for biological, environmental, and energy applications. Among various types of magnetic materials, magnetite (Fe3O4) is preferred due to its superior magnetic, electrochemical, economic, and environmental features. The existing synthesis processes like the solvothermal method, thermal decomposition methods, etc. need high -temperature operation and it consumes longer time to fabricate Fe3O4 nanoparticles that could be minimized by adopting the sonoelectrochemical method. The formation of Fe3O4 would readily enhance kinetics, and mass transport through the simple but effective redox reaction as well as the ultrasound cavitation phenomenon. As a result, rapid synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoparticles was galvanostatically achieved in 15 min by using facile sonoelectrochemical method and the results were compared with bare electrochemical method and ten hourly hydrothermally prepared Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The economic factors like the independency of requiring high temperature and longer synthesis time, it was found that the sonoelectrochemical method could be utilized as an intensified alternative method to produce high -quality Fe3O4 nanoparticles under economic synthesis conditions for various sustainable applications.