Facile Synthesis of Fe3O4@ZnS Core-Shell Bifunctional Nanospheres with Superior Magnetic-Fluorescent Properties

In this present work, we report a mild and efficient chemical route in preparing Fe3O4@ZnS bifunctional nanospheres. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation and X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicate core-shell structure of the Fe3O4@ZnS nanospheres with the diameter around 400-700 nm. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) determination reveals high crystallinity of the nanospheres. Magnetic and photoluminesce properties of the nanospheres show that the nanospheres possessed high magnetization saturation value of 58.8524 similar to 61.6569 emu/g with strong blue emission under UV irradiation. The optical intensity can be adjusted in our experiments. These properties suggest that the bifunctional magnetic-optical nanospheres promise great potential in the applications of optical imaging and time-resolved fluorescence imaging.