A Simple and Facile Procedure to Grown Superparamagnetic CoxFeII1-xFeIII2O3 Nanoparticles onto Graphene: Electrochemical Fabrication and Characterization

Here, we report an electrochemical procedure for facile fabrication of cobalt cations doped iron oxide (Co-IO) /graphene composite. The superparamagnetic CoxFeII1-xFeIII2O3 nanoparticles are electrochemically grown onto graphene sheets via cathodic electro-synthesis. The graphene sheets are also electrophoretically deposited onto cathode electrode from an aqueous graphene dispersed solution. The Co2+ doped magnetite nanoparticles are also deposited from Fe(NO3)3, FeCl2 and Co(NO3)2 with molar ratios of 1:0.5:0.5, respectively. The magnetite crystal nature of the fabricated composite was proved through XRD and IR data. Cobalt content (i.e. doped Co2+ ions) in the prepared composite was established by data obtained from energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The results of SEM and IR analyses confirmed the electrophoretic deposition of dispersed graphene layers onto cathode surface. The superparamagnetic nature of the fabricated CoxFeII1-xFeIII2O3/graphene sample was verified by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) data. Based on the results obtained, it is confirmed that cathodic electrochemical route is facile technique for fabrication of graphene based magnetite nanocomposite.