High saturation magnetization of Fe3C nanoparticles synthesized by a simple route.

The Fe 3 C nanoparticles were synthesized via a facile synthesis method. The structures, morphology and magnetic properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer. It was found that the prepared nanoparticles possess the admirable magnetic moment, approaching to the theoretical value. More importantly, we briefly propose the synthesis mechanism. This simple and general approach provides a novel way to synthesize metal carbide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]