Colloidal Stability of Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles: Influence of Natural Organic Matter and Synthetic Polyelectrolytes

Ghosh, S. and Jiang, W. and McClements, J. D. and Xing, B. S.. (2011) Colloidal Stability of Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles: Influence of Natural Organic Matter and Synthetic Polyelectrolytes. Langmuir, 27 (13). pp. 8036-8043. ISSN 0743-7463

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Abstract

The colloidal behavior of natural organic matter (NOM) and synthetic poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)-coated ferrimagnetic (gamma Fe(2)O(3)) nanoparticles (NPs) was investigated. Humic acid (HA), an important component of NOM, was extracted from a peat soil. Two different molecular weight PAAs were also used for coating. The colloidal stability of the coated magnetic NPs was evaluated as a resultant of the attractive magnetic dipolar and van der Waals forces and the repulsive electrostatic and steric- electrosteric interactions. The conformational alterations of the polyelectrolytes adsorbed on magnetic gamma Fe(2)O(3) NPs and their role in colloidal stability were determined. Pure gamma Fe(2)O(3) NPs were extremely unstable because of aggregation in aqueous solution, but a significant stability enhancement was observed after coating with polyelectrolytes. The steric stabilization factor induced by the polyelectrolyte coating strongly dictated the colloidal stability. The pH-induced conformational change of the adsorbed, weakly charged polyelectrolytes had a significant effect on the colloidal stability. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed the stretched conformation of the HA molecular chains adsorbed on the gamma Fe(2)O(3) NP surface at pH 9, which enhanced the colloidal stability through long-range electrosteric stabilization. The depletion of the polyelectrolyte during the dilution of the NP suspension decreased the colloidal stability under acidic solution conditions. The conformation of the polyelectrolytes adsorbed on the NP surface was altered as a function of the substrate surface charge as viewed from AFM imaging. The polyelectrolyte coating also led to a reduction in magnetic moments and decreased the coercivity of the coated gamma Fe(2)O(3) NPs. Thus, the enhanced stabilization of the coated maghematite NPs may facilitate their delivery in the groundwater for the effective removal of contaminants.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: adsorption, aggregation, atomic-force microscopy, brushes, conformations, dispersions, hematite, humic-acid, polyacrylic-acid, surfaces
InterNano Taxonomy: Nanomanufacturing Characterization Techniques > Scanning Probe Microscopy > Atomic force microscopy (AFM)
Nanoscale Objects and Nanostructured Materials > Nanoparticles
Collections: Nanomanufacturing Research Collection > Nanomanufacturing Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers > Center for Hierarchical Manufacturing
Depositing User: Robert Stevens
Date Deposited: 19 Apr 2012 21:19
Last Modified: 02 May 2012 18:08
URI: http://eprints.internano.org/id/eprint/1801

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