Synthesis, characterization and magnetic properties of KFeO₂ nanoparticles prepared by a simple egg white solution route

Abstract

Nanoparticles of potassium ferrite (KFeO₂) in this work were synthesized by a simple egg white solution method upon calcination in air at 773, 873, and 973 K for 2 h. The effects of calcination temperature on the structural and magnetic properties of the synthesized KFeO₂ nanoparticles were investigated. By varying the calcination temperature, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy results indicated the changes in crystallinity and morphology including particle size, respectively. Notably, the reduction in particle size of the synthesized KFeO₂ was found to have a remarkable influence on the magnetic properties. At room temperature, the synthesized KFeO₂ nanoparticles prepared at 873 K exhibited the highest saturation magnetization (M _S) of 2.07 × 10⁴ A·m⁻¹. In addition, the coercivity (H _C) increased from 3.51 to 16.89 kA·m⁻¹ as the calcination temperature increased to 973 K. The zero-field cooled (ZFC) results showed that the blocking temperatures (T _B) of about 125 and 85 K were observed in the samples calcined at 773 and 873 K, respectively. Therefore, this work showed that the egg white solution method is simple, cost effective, and environmentally friendly for the preparation of KFeO₂ nanoparticles.

Keywords

egg white solution method / potassium ferrite nanoparticles / magnetic properties / ferromagnetism

References

[1] Shokrollahi H. A review of the magnetic properties, synthesis methods and applications of maghemite. J. Magn. Magn. Mater., 2017, 426, 74.

[2] S. Bharadwaj, A. Tirupathi, N. Pavan Kumar, S. Pola, and Y. Kalyana Lakshmi, Study of magnetic and magnetoresistance behaviour of La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃-CoFe₂O₄ composites, J. Magn. Magn. Mater., 513(2020), art. No. 167058.

[3] Munjal S, Khare N, Sivakumar B, Nair Sakthikumar D. Citric acid coated CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles transformed through rapid mechanochemical ligand exchange for efficient magnetic hyperthermia applications. J. Magn. Magn. Mater., 2019, 477, 388.

[4] S. Talukdar, P. Saha, I. Chakraborty, and K. Mandal, Surface functionalized CoFe₂O₄ nano-hollowspheres: Novel properties, J. Magn. Magn. Mater., 513(2020), art. No. 167079.

[5] Abasian P, Radmansouri M, Habibi Jouybari M, Ghasemi MV, Mohammadi A, Irani M, Jazi FS. Incorporation of magnetic NaX zeolite/DOX into the PLA/chitosan nanofibers for sustained release of doxorubicin against carcinoma cells death in vitro. Int. J. Biol. Macromol., 2019, 121, 398.

[6] Sharifianjazi F, Moradi M, Parvin N, Nemati A, Jafari Rad A, Sheysi N, Abouchenari A, Mohammadi A, Karbasi S, Ahmadi Z, Esmaeilkhanian A, Irani M, Pakseresht A, Sahmani S, Shahedi Asl M. Magnetic CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles doped with metal ions: A review. Ceram. Int., 2020, 46(11): 18391.

[7] Abuchenari A, Moradi M. Effect of Cu-substitution on the microstructure and magnetic properties of Fe-15%Ni alloy prepared by mechanical alloying. J. Compos. Compd., 2019, 1(1): 13.

[8] Rouhani AR, Esmaeil-Khanian AH, Davar F, Hasani S. The effect of agarose content on the morphology, phase evolution, and magnetic properties of CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles prepared by sol—gel autocombustion method. Int. J. Appl. Ceram. Technol., 2018, 15(3): 758.

[9] M. Kim, B.H. Kim, H.C. Choi, and B.I. Min, Origin of high Néel temperature in the low coordination number system AFeO₂(A=K and Rb), Phys. Rev. B, 81(2010), No. 21, art. No. 212405.

[10] Edström K, Ito S, Delaplane RG. The crystal and magnetic structure of nonstoichiometric K⁺ β-errriee. J. Magn. Magn. Mater., 2000, 212(3): 347.

[11] Tabuchi M. Preparation of AFeO₂ (A = Li, Na) by hydrothermal method. Solid State Ionics, 1995, 79, 220.

[12] Kotarba A, Barański A, Hodorowicz S, Sokołowski J, Szytuła A, Holmlid L. Stability and excitation of potassium promoter in iron catalysts — The role of KFeO₂ and KAlO₂ phases. Catal. Lett., 2000, 67(2–4): 129.

[13] Han SC, Park WB, Sohn KS, Pyo M. KFeO₂ with corner-shared FeO₄ frameworks as a new type of cathode material in potassium-ion batteries. J. Solid State Electrochem., 2019, 23(11): 3135.

[14] Tangra AK, Singh S, Sun NX, Lotey GS. Investigation of structural, Raman and photoluminescence properties of novel material: KFeO₂ nanoparticles. J. Alloys Compd., 2019, 778, 47.

[15] Khanna L, Verma NK. Synthesis, characterization and biocompatibility of potassium ferrite nanoparticles. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2014, 30(1): 30.

[16] Garg VK, Sharma VK, Kuzmann E. Sharma VK, Doong RA, Kim H, Varma RS, Dionysiou DD. Purification of water by ferrites — Mini review. Ferrites and Ferrates: Chemistry and Applications in Sustainable Energy and Environmental Remediation, 2016, Washington, DC, American Chemical Society, 137.

[17] Khanna L, Kumar Verma N. Study on novel, superparamagnetic and biocompatible PEG/KFeO₂ nanocomposite. J. Appl. Biomed., 2015, 13(1): 23.

[18] Khanna L, Verma NK. Silica/potassium ferrite nanocomposite: Structural, morphological, magnetic, thermal and in vitro cytotoxicity analysis. Mater. Sci. Eng. B, 2013, 178(18): 1230.

[19] Randhawa BS, Dosanjh HS, Kumar N. Synthesis of potassium ferrite by precursor and combustion methods. J. Therm. Anal. Calorim., 2009, 95(1): 75.

[20] Kotarba A, Bieniasz W, Kustrowski P, Stadnicka K, Sojka Z. Composite ferrite catalyst for ethylbenzene dehydrogenation: Enhancement of potassium stability and catalytic performance by phase selective doping. Appl. Catal. A, 2011, 407(1–2): 100.

[21] Moon SJ, Shim IB, Kim CS. Crystallographic and magnetic properties of KFeO₂. IEEE Trans. Magn., 2006, 42(10): 2879.

[22] Masingboon C, Maensiri S, Yamwong T, Anderson PL, Seraphin S. Nanocrystalline CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ powders prepared by egg white solution route: Synthesis, characterization and its giant dielectric properties. Appl. Phys. A, 2008, 91(1): 87.

[23] Cushing BL, Kolesnichenko VL, O’Connor CJ. Recent advances in the liquid-phase syntheses of inorganic nanoparticles. Chem. Rev., 2004, 104(9): 3893.

[24] S. Bagheri, K. Shameli, and S.B. Abd Hamid, Synthesis and characterization of anatase titanium dioxide nanoparticles using egg white solution via sol—gel method, J. Chem., 2013(2013), art. No. 848205.

[25] Lambrecht MA, Deleu LJ, Rombouts I, Delcour JA. Heat-induced network formation between proteins of different sources in model systems, wheat-based noodles and pound cakes. Food Hydrocolloids, 2018, 79, 352.

[26] van der Plancken I, van Loey A, Hendrickx MEG. Changes in sulfhydryl content of egg white proteins due to heat and pressure treatment. J. Agric. Food Chem., 2005, 53(14): 5726.

[27] S. Renzetti, I.A.F. van den Hoek, and R.G.M. van der Sman, Amino acids, polyols and soluble fibres as sugar replacers in bakery applications: Egg white proteins denaturation controlled by hydrogen bond density of solutions, Food Hydrocolloids, 108(2020), art. No. 106034.

[28] Hagolle N, Relkin P, Popineau Y, Bertrand D. Study of the stability of egg white protein-based foams: Effect of heating protein solution. J. Sci. Food Agric., 2000, 80(8): 1245.

[29] Dhara S. Synthesis of nanocrystalline alumina using egg white. J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 2005, 88(7): 2003.

[30] Thiyagarajan K, Bharti VK, Tyagi S, Tyagi PK, Ahuja A, Kumar K, Raj T, Kumar B. Synthesis of non-toxic, biocompatible, and colloidal stable silver nanoparticle using egg-white protein as capping and reducing agents for sustainable antibacterial application. RSC Adv., 2018, 8(41): 23213.

[31] Petříček V, Dušek M, Palatinus L. Crystallographic computing system JANA2006: General features. Z. Kristallogr. — Cryst. Mater., 2014, 229(5): 345.

[32] Proskurnina NV, Voronin VI, Shekhtman GS, Maskaeva LN, Kabanova NA, Kabanov AA, Blatov VA. Ionic conductivity in Ti-doped KFeO₂: Experiment and mathematical modeling. J. Phys. Chem. C, 2017, 121(39): 21128.

[33] P. Muhammed Shafi and A. Chandra Bose, Impact of crystalline defects and size on X-ray line broadening: A phenomenological approach for tetragonal SnO₂ nanocryttals, AIP Adv., 5(2015), No. 5, art. No. 057137.

[34] Freeman ES. The kinetics of the thermal decomposition of potassium nitrate and of the reaction between potassium nitrite and Oxygen. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1957, 79(4): 838.

[35] Toby BH. R factors in Rietveld analysis: How good is good enough?. Powder Diffr., 2006, 21(1): 67.

[36] Li XY, Liu CF, Zhang CK, Fu HY, Nan XH, Ma WD, Li ZY, Wang K, Wu HB, Cao GZ. Effects of preinser-ted Na ions on Li-ion electrochemical intercalation properties of V₂O₅. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2016, 8(37): 24629.

[37] Huang ZJ, Wang ZX, Zheng XB, Guo HJ, Li XH, Jing Q, Yang ZH. Structural and electrochemical properties of Mg-doped nickel based cathode materials LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2−xMg_xO₂ for lithium ion batteries. RSC Adv., 2015, 5(108): 88773.

[38] Pham MH, Dinh CT, Vuong GT, Ta ND, Do TO. Visible light induced hydrogen generation using a hollow photocatalyst with two cocatalysts separated on two surface sides. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2014, 16(13): 5937.

[39] T. Gholam, L.R. Zheng, J.O. Wang, H.J. Qian, R. Wu, and H.Q. Wang, Synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy study of local structure in Al-doped BiFeO₃ powders, Nanoscale Res. Lett., 14(2019), No. 1, art. No. 137.

[40] Kataby G, Koltypin Y, Rothe J, Hormes J, Felner I, Cao X, Gedanken A. The adsorption of monolayer coatings on iron nanoparticles: Mössbauer spectroscopy and XANES results. Thin Solid Films, 1998, 333(1–2): 41.

[41] Westre TE, Kennepohl P, DeWitt JG, Hedman B, Hodgson KO, Solomon EI. A multiplet analysis of Fe K-edge 1s → 3d pre-edge features of iron complexes. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1997, 119(27): 6297.

[42] Bingham PA, Hannant OM, Reeves-Mclaren N, Stennett MC, Hand RJ. Selective behaviour of dilute Fe³⁺ ions in silicate glasses: An Fe K-edge EXAFS and XANES study. J. Non Cryst. Solids, 2014, 387, 47.

[43] Mustafa G, Islam MU, Zhang WL, Jamil Y, Asif Iqbal M, Hussain M, Ahmad M. Temperature dependent structural and magnetic properties of Cerium substituted Co-Cr ferrite prepared by auto-combustion method. J. Magn. Magn. Mater., 2015, 378, 409.

[44] Issa B, Obaidat IM, Albiss BA, Haik Y. Magnetic nanoparticles: Surface effects and properties related to biomedicine applications. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 2013, 14(11): 21266.

[45] Li YD, Liu RM, Zhang ZD, Xiong CS. Synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline BaFe_9.6Co_0.8Ti_0.8M_0.8O₁₉ particles. Mater. Chem. Phys., 2000, 64(3): 256.

[46] Hyeon T, Chung Y, Park J, Lee SS, Kim YW, Park BH. Synthesis of highly crystalline and monodisperse cobalt ferrite nanocrystals. J. Phys. Chem. B, 2002, 106(27): 6831.

[47] Sánchez RD, Rivas J, Vaqueiro P, López-Quintela MA, Caeiro D. Particle size effects on magnetic properties of yttrium iron garnets prepared by a sol—gel method. J. Magn. Magn. Mater., 2002, 247(1): 92.

[48] J.S. Lee, J.M. Cha, H.Y. Yoon, J.K. Lee, and Y.K. Kim, Magnetic multi-granule nanoclusters: A model system that exhibits universal size effect of magnetic coercivity, Sci. Rep., 5(2015), art. No. 12135.