An investigation into the potential large-scale continuous magnetite nanoparticle synthesis by high-pressure impinging stream reactors

Magnetite nanoparticle synthesis is becoming increasingly important in a variety of fields. Scale-up of current batch, laboratory magnetite precipitation techniques involving relatively small volumes may be problematic as large stirred vessels can yield areas of localized low pH upon addition of a base to an iron solution resulting in the precipitation of undesired non-magnetic iron oxides. We present the use of high-pressure impinging stream reactors of different designs for the potential large-scale continuous precipitation of magnetite nanoparticles. The experimental system described here is capable of producing up to 50 g/min predominantly magnetite precipitate of 8–12 nm particle diameter.