Facile one-pot synthesis of multi-armed Fe3O4 nanocrystals

Multi-armed magnetite nanocrystals are successfully synthesized from ferrous chloride (FeCl2·4H2O), sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and potassium nitrate (KNO3) via a mild hydrothermal process. The multi-armed magnetite nanorods are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and magnetization measurements. The as-obtained nanocrystals exhibit a ferromagnetic behavior with a high magnetization (106.6 emu/g). Moreover, the formation mechanism of Fe3O4 multi-armed nanocrystals is also proposed.