Mössbauer study of a Fe3O4/PMMA nanocomposite synthesized by sonochemistry

Magnetite nanoparticles of 10 nm average size were synthesized by ultrasonic waves from the chemical reaction and precipitation of ferrous and ferric iron chloride (FeCl3 · 6H2O y FeCl2 · 4H2O) in a basic medium. The formation and the incorporation of the magnetite in PMMA were followed by XRD and Mössbauer Spectroscopy. These magnetite nanoparticles were subsequently incorporated into the polymer by ultrasonic waves in order to obtain the final sample of 5 % weight Fe3O4 into the polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). Both samples Fe3O4 nanoparticles and 5 % Fe3O4/PMMA nanocomposite, were studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy in the temperature range of 300 K–77 K. In the case of room temperature, the Mössbauer spectrum of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles sample was fitted with two magnetic histograms, one corresponding to the tetrahedral sites (Fe3 + ) and the other to the octahedral sites (Fe3 +  and Fe2 + ), while the 5 % Fe3O4/PMMA sample was fitted with two histograms as before and a singlet subspectrum related to a superparamagnetic behavior, caused by the dispersion of the nanoparticles into the polymer. The 77 K Mössabuer spectra for both samples were fitted with five magnetic subspectra similar to the bulk magnetite and for the 5 % Fe3O4/PMMA sample it was needed to add also a superparamagnetic singlet. Additionally, a study of the Verwey transition has been done and it was observed a different behavior compared with that of bulk magnetite.