Microstructure and Chemo-Physical Characterizations of Functional Graphene Oxide-Iron Oxide-Silver Ternary Nanocomposite Synthesized by One-Pot Hydrothermal Method

In this work, a functional graphene oxide-iron oxide-silver (GO-Fe₃O₄-Ag) ternary nanocomposite was synthesized by using one-pot hydrothermal treatments of mixture solutions of silver nitrate (AgNO₃), ferrous chloride tetrahydrate (FeCl₂ 4H₂O), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), graphene oxide (GO), and ammonium hydroxide solution (NH₄OH). The systematic effects of synthesis conditions on the microstructure and formation of binary and ternary composite systems were studied. Importantly, high-crystalline GO-Fe₃O₄-Ag ternary nanomaterials with average sizes of Fe₃O₄ particles ~16 nm and of Ag particles ~20 nm were obtained at optimized conditions (125 °C, 2.5 mM of AgNO₃ and 5 mL of NH₄OH). Magnetic analysis indicated that the saturated magnetization value of Fe₃O₄-Ag binary composite sample (~73.1 emu/g) was improved as compared with pure Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (~60.6 emu/g), while this of GO-Fe₃O₄-Ag ternary composite sample was about 57.3 emu/g. With exhibited advantages of low-cost, high purity and short synthesis time, the hydrothermal-synthesized GO-Fe₃O₄-Ag ternary nanocomposite can be a promising candidate for advanced environmental catalyst and biomedical applications.