Outline
Figures and Tables
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Graphical Abstract
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Figure 1. Schematic diagrams and chemical equations pertaining to the microwave-assisted melting and heterogenous deposition of sulfur on Fe3O4 nanoparticles. NaBH4 reduction of aqueous FeCl3 ensued by a room temperature oxidation produced Fe3O4 nanoparticles via nascent Fe intermediates with PVP surfactant served to control particles size and impart water dispersibility. Microwave-assisted melting of hydrophobic bulk sulfur enabled heterogeneous deposition of nanoscale sulfur on Fe3O4 nanoparticles, producing SUFEO (a), Chemical equations involved in the reduction of ferric ions to metallic Fe (b), followed by oxidation to afford Fe3O4 NPs (c).
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Figure 2. Powder X-ray diffractogram of SUFEO synthesized (blue) was well-matched to both S8 and Fe3O4, confirming the existence of a composite material. The absence of the Fe2O3 phase indicated the successful prevention of Fe3O4 oxidation, a critical step needed to ensure a strong magnetic response beneficial for the applications of Ag NPs capture.