Solvothermal synthesis of mesoporous magnetite nanoparticles for Cr(IV) ions uptake and microwave absorption

Colloidal mesoporous magnetite nanoparticles with tunable porosity were realized by a simple and scalable solvothermal route with the aid of AOT as ligands. AOT was used to induce the anisotropic crystal growth of smaller nanocrystals and restrain their tight aggregation so as to form more mesoscale pores. Morphologies and microstructures investigation by SEM and TEM revealed that the bigger nanoparticles were composed of smaller nanocrystals with an average size of 18 nm. A possible formation mechanism was proposed for the mesoporous nanoparticles. Study of nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherm revealed that the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area of mesoporous nanoparticles is up to 209 m²/g, resulting from the slit-shaped pores created by the aggregation of polyhedral nanocrystals. Magnetic properties study indicated that the as-prepared nanoparticles are superparamagnetic at room temperature. Optimized mesoporous magnetite nanoparticles exhibit a maximum Cr(VI) ion sorption capacity of 12.9 mmol/g, and its absorption behavior followed a Freundlich model. Microwave absorption study indicated that porous nanoparticles own higher permeability values than that of solid nanoparticles, leading to a higher dielectric loss in the frequency range of 2–18 GHz.