Effect of sonication time and particle size for synthesis of magnetic nanoparticle from local iron sand

In this research, iron sand from local resource was used to synthesis the Fe3O4 nanoparticle. Effects of sonication time and a different size of iron sand were analysed in the preparation process to obtain magnetic nanoparticle, which has excellent properties. The black colour of obtained magnetic nanoparticle was further analysed with the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method to observe the porous structure of materials, including surface area, average pore diameter, and the type of pore size. The results show that the produced magnetic nanoparticles have a mesoporous structure with the average pore diameter ranged within 3.594- 5.392 nm. This mesoporous architecture is desired in drug delivery application for high drug loading. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) result shows that the magnetic nanoparticles have homogeneous spherical shape and nano in size. Such nanoparticle can be easily transferred in the body through the blood and enhance the targeting ability. Meanwhile, Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) result shows that the major element found in MNP samples are iron and oxygen, which could form iron oxides. Thus, the resulted Fe3O4 nanoparticle from local iron sand could be used as an alternative approach as a biomaterial for cancer treatment. © 2020 School of Engineering, Taylor's University.