One-pot synthesis of iron oxide mesoporous silica core/shell nanocomposites

•Iron chloride precursors were used in one-pot synthesis of iron oxide/mesoporous silica core/shell nanocomposites.•Nanocomposites were less than 100 nm in diameter.•Secondary organic amine were used in the synthesis to control aggregation.•The factors that control particle size, iron loading, and aggregation were identified.

Iron oxide/mesoporous silica core/shell nanocomposites are an increasingly important class of materials with a wide range of applications. In the pursuit of more efficient synthetic techniques, this paper presents a methodology for the one-pot synthesis of discrete iron oxide/mesoporous silica core/shell nanocomposites with dimensions of less than 100 nm starting with iron chloride precursors. Reaction conditions including secondary organic amine identity and concentration, base source, surfactant identity and silica concentration were varied in order to optimize the synthesis. By changing these conditions, the factors that control particle size, iron loading, and aggregation were identified.

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