One-pot electrochemical synthesis of polydopamine coated magnetite nanoparticles

Herein a facile and versatile one step synthesis of magnetite nanoparticles coated with polydopamine is described. Magnetite nanoparticles are synthesized electrochemically by electrooxidation of iron in an aqueous medium in the presence of dopamine. The oxidative conditions and alkaline pH involved in the synthesis favor the self-polymerization of dopamine that adheres at the surface of the magnetic nanoparticles in a simultaneous process. It is shown that the size of the magnetite nanoparticles as well as the polydopamine coating can be controlled by varying the synthetic approach that is, adding dopamine at the beginning of the electrosynthesis, in the middle or at the end of the process. The particle size of the core varies between a few nanometers and 25 nm while the shell can reach thicknesses of up to ∼5 nm. The obtained hybrid nanoparticles were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition, the magnetic measurements of the different obtained materials were carried out showing a variety of magnetic behaviors depending on the synthetic procedure.