Chemically synthesized nanoparticles of iron and iron-carbides

In this paper, we report a one-pot chemical synthesis technique for the preparation of iron and iron-carbide nanoparticles. Mössbauer spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and magnetometry were used as the main tools to identify the different phases of Fe–C present. The influence of experimental parameters on the structural and compositional properties of nanoparticles was investigated in detail. These particles show ferromagnetic behavior with room temperature coercivity higher than 300 Oe. The X-ray diffraction was complemented by Mössbauer spectroscopy and thermo-magnetic analysis. Remarkably, the carbon content in iron-carbide nanoparticles (carbon rich or carbon poor iron-carbides) can be modulated simply by varying the experimental conditions, like the reaction time, temperature and iron precursor concentration. Magnetic properties can be tailored based upon crystallographic structure and particles composition.