Size and shape control for water-soluble magnetic cobalt nanoparticles using polymer ligands

Abstract

We report a synthesis of monodisperse water-soluble magnetic Co nanoparticles using a facile reduction method in aqueous media in the presence of alkyl thioether end-functionalized poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA-DDT) ligands. The size and shape of the nanoparticles are both tunable by varying synthesis conditions. The size of the spherical nanoparticles can be tuned between 2–7.5 nm by changing the concentration of the polymer. Our synthesis approach also provides a route for producing much larger spherical nanoparticles of 80 nm as well as anisotropic nanorods of 15 × 36 nm. The spherical nanoparticles are superparamagnetic at room temperature. The nanoparticles can be stable in water for up to eight weeks when 0.12 mM PMAA-DTT with molecular weight of 13500 g mol−1 is used as ligand.