One-pot synthesis of monodisperse iron oxide nanoparticles for potential biomedical applications

Xie, Jin; Peng, Sheng; Brower, Nathan; Pourmand, Nader; Wang, Shan X.; Sun, Shouheng

doi:10.1351/pac200678051003

Pure Appl. Chem., 2006, Vol. 78, No. 5, pp. 1003-1014

http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/pac200678051003

One-pot synthesis of monodisperse iron oxide nanoparticles for potential biomedical applications

Jin Xie¹, Sheng Peng¹, Nathan Brower¹, Nader Pourmand², Shan X. Wang³ and Shouheng Sun¹

¹ Department of Chemistry, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
² Stanford Genome Technology Center, 855 California Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
³ Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA

Abstract: One-pot reaction of iron(III) acetylacetonate, Fe(acac)₃, [or Fe(acac)₃ and M(acac)₂ where M = Mn and Co], with 1,2-alkanediol, oleic acid, and oleylamine in high boiling organic solvent leads to monodisperse ferrite MFe₂O₄ nanoparticles. Depending on the concentration of the metal precursors, surfactant-to-metal precursor ratio and the solvent used in the reaction, the particle size from this one-pot reaction can be tuned from 4 to 15 nm. The as-synthesized iron oxide nanoparticles have an inverse spinel structure, and their magnetic properties are controlled by particle size and M in the MFe₂O₄ structure. The hydrophobic iron oxide nanoparticles are readily transformed into hydrophilic ones by functional phospholipid addition to the as-synthesized particles and as a result, the monodisperse nanoparticles are readily functionalized with biotin, -COOH, -SH, and -NH₂, facilitating their link to biomolecules for biomedical applications.