Synthesis of Nd-Co doped Fe3O4 nanoparticles and Fe3O4- chitosan nanocomposite with tunable magnetic properties

magnetic nanoparticles were prepared by the aqueous co-precipitation of anhydrous fecl3,feso4.7h2o, con2o6.6h2o and nd(no3)3.6h2o with the addition of sodium hydroxide. chitosan was added to coat on the surfaceof the prepared fe3o4 nanoparticles by physical absorption. the obtained magnetic nanoparticles were characterizedsystematically through the use of an x-ray diffraction (xrd), energy dispersive x-ray analysis (edx), scanningelectron microscope (sem), transmission electron microscope (tem), and an alternating gradient force magnetometer(agfm). the results revealed that the magnetic nanoparticles were spherical shaped with inverse spinel structure .the size of magnetic nanoparticles were approximately 15nm. magnetic measurement showed that the saturation magnetization of the fe3o4, nd-co doped fe3o4, fe3o4 – chitosan nanoparticles were 56.66, 74.64 and 35.39 emu/g, respectively. the nanoparticles were super paramagnetic at room temperature. it was found that the magnetic response of the fe3o4 increased when it was doped with nd+3 and co+2. however,the magnetic response of the fe3o4 decreased when it was coated with chitosan. the prepared fe3o4 – chitosan nanoparticles have great potential in hyperthermia.