Hello,
I am synthesizing nanoparticles. In my recipe I have to use iron (III) and tetradecyl phosphonic acid. My problem is that in the end, when I go to the microscopy I always have excess of organic material, which is composed by the complex iron-phosphonic acid (EDS shows iron and phosphorous).
I already tried wash them with 1-propanol, acetone, chloroform, hexane and other typical solvents but it seems that none of these solvents is able to wash this complex.
I usually centrifuge the particles between 4k rpm and 6.5k rpm.
Thank you for your help
Rui
Do you use the phosphonic acid as a capping agent during your synthesis to achieve a certain size? Or you synthesize the particles and then add the phosphonic acid?
I have faced exactly the same problem. I have used 2-Propanol for washing, but methanol is a good suggestion.
You can check all my publications which are related to phosphonic acids on metal oxide nanoparticles.
Have you considered it could be etching of the nanoparticles?
Methanol..?
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mrc.4372/full
Hello, thank you for your sugestions.
I already tried 2-propanol and 2-propanol+chloroform and did not solve my problem. To answer your question I use the phosphonic acid during synthesis.
I will try Allan sugestion and I will wash with some NaOH although Iron-hydroxide complexes will be unsoluble, which can probably become another problem.
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