One step continuous hydrothermal synthesis of very fine stabilized superparamagnetic nanoparticles of magnetite

Stable suspensions of citrated SPIO nanoparticles were synthesised in one step using a hydrothermal continuous process. Citrates control the crystallite size and the oxidation degree of metallic ions despite the very short reaction time (4 s). Magnetite particles, Fe2.94O4, with an average size of 4 nm and good monodispersity were obtained.