REU/RET Projects

Robert Tan
University: University of California, Berkeley
Mentor in UCF: Dr. Kevin Belfield - Chemistry

Chemical Synthesis of Iron Platinum Magnetic Nanoparticles with a Commercial Tri-block Copolymer Surfactant

The ability to couple a commercial PEOPPO tri-block copolymer surfactant from BASF with equimolar ratio FePt particles to prevent the aggregation of the FePt nanoparticles has been demonstrated using simple wet chemistry. We have successfully synthesized face-centered cubic (FCC) and face-centered tetragonal (FCT) FePt nanoparticles with a diameter of about 2-4 nm. We also compared the effects of different techniques of FePt synthesis using x-ray diffraction (XRD), and ultraviolet (UV) fluorescence spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Furthermore, we compared the mechanical and chemical properties of various iron-oxide films made from commercial surfactants and in-lab synthesized surfactants.