Synthesis of Stable Gold-Coated Superparamagnetic Iron Nanoparticles
Gold-coated iron nanoparticles demonstrating superparamagnetic characteristics at room temperature were synthesised by reduction of iron salts and gold chloride in reverse micelle solutions. Nanoparticles with average size (including coating) of around 7 nm, as measured from the micrograph taken by Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and calculated from the X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) peaks using Scherrer's equation, were produced. The saturation magnetisation value of these nanoparticles was approximately 28 emu/g; comparable to or higher than the published values in literature for similar particles. The particles were found to be stable over time, rendering them potentially applicable for in vivo biomedical applications, such as magnetic resonance imaging or targeted drug delivery.