Vortex fluidics synthesis of polymer coated superparamagnetic magnetite nanoparticles

Polymer coated superparamagnetic magnetite nanoparticles with a mean diameter of less than 10 nm have been fabricated using a co-precipitation method under continuous flow conditions within a vortex fluidic device (VFD). High shear in the VFD allows controlled growth of the nanoparticles and their wrapping by the non-toxic polyvinyl pyrrolidine (PVP). Changing the reaction conditions, notably the rotational speed and angle of tilt of the tube, influenced the wrapping of the magnetite particles which have improved magnetic properties over those produced using traditional batch processing.