Synthesis and Properties of Bifunctional Fe3O4/Ag Nanoparticles

In this work, a facile synthesis of Fe3O4/Ag nanoparticles, with magnetic properties and electrical conductivity, was successfully developed, by reducing Ag(I) ions with D-Glucose, in the presence of a dispersion of superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles, under ultrasound treatment. Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) was used as protecting agent and Ag(I) were incorporated in different molar ratios with respect to Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The obtained particles were characterized by XRD studies, SEM and TEM observation, Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS), DC magnetization and conductivity measurements. From TEM and SEM observation it was found that the PVP protection has shown to be partial, as the Fe3O4 nanoparticles have a lower diameter after the reduction treatment. Despite this, the particles retain the superparamagnetic behavior and the saturation magnetization decreases as the Ag content increases. From conductivity measurements, a minimum Ag(I)/Fe3O4 molar ratio = 1.75 was needed in order to observe electrical conductivity in the metallic regime.