Synthesis of Silica coated Potassium Ferrite Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

In the present work, potassium ferrite nanoparticles were synthesized by sol – gel method and the synthesized potassium ferrite nanoparticles were coated with silica by stöber method. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by XRD (X-ray diffraction), which revealed the formation of orthorhombic structure of potassium ferrite nanoparticles. The crystallite size using Scherer’s formula of potassium ferrite nanoparticles and silica coated potassium ferrite nanoparticles was calculated to be 21 nm and 22.5 nm, respectively. The morphological analysis of the synthesized nanoparticles was done by SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope), TEM (Transmission Electron Microscope), where in case of potassium ferrite nanoparticles, agglomeration was observed; there was reduced agglomeration along with spherical morphology when the potassium ferrite nanoparticles were coated with silica. The EDAX (Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) and FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer) analysis further confirmed the presence of silica on potassium ferrite nanoparticles. The magnetic analysis using VSM (Vibrating Sample Magnetometer) was also done, in which the magnetic saturation decreased from 23.78 emu/g for potassium ferrite nanoparticles to 3.67 emu/g for silica coated potassium ferrite nanoparticles, attributed to the presence of magnetically dead layer of silica on potassium ferrite nanoparticles.