Synthesis of Iron Nanoparticles by Thermal Decomposition of Diironnonacarbonyl in Ionic Liquid and Their Potential Use as Nanotracers for Mixer Studies in Liquids Feeds

Iron nanoparticles with dynamic light scattering median diameter around 10 nm have been prepared by thermal decomposition under a nitrogen atmosphere from diironnonacarbonyl (DINC) dissolved in n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIMBF). The effect of temperature changes in the range of 170°C - 200°C and changes in concentration of DINC in BMIMBF in the range of 0.1% - 0.9% on the properties of obtained iron nanoparticles has been investigated. The stable dispersion of iron nanoparticle in ethanol has been prepared after separation of nanoparticles from ionic liquid by centrifugation following by their re-dispersion in ethanol. The possibility of quantitative analysis of iron content in ethanol dispersion by deposition of ferromagnetic nanoparticles on the surface of plastic-protected neodymium magnet, dissolution of iron in hydrochloric acid and addition of ammonium thiocyanate solution following by spectrophotometric determination of iron cations at wavelength of 490 nm has been investigated. The feasibility of using the same approach in case of addition of ethanol dispersion of iron nanoparticles to the liquid animal feeds for evaluation of efficiency of their mixing has been discussed.