Synthesis of &#947–Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles with crystallographic and magnetic texture

Maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) nanoparticles are synthesized by chemical co-precipitation technique in AOT-microemulsion with a view to have possible application for biotagging. The investigations by means of X-ray diffraction, isothermal magnetization M (H) and 57Fe Mössbauer Spectroscopy show that the particles are nonspherical, mostly of rod shape. The inter-particle interaction is so large that even a powder sample of thickness about 40 mg/cm2 shows preferential orientation of magnetic moments in the plane of the sample. The saturation magnetization is much lower than the expected values for maghemite. Keywords: Maghemite, Magnetic nanoparticles, Magnetic Ordering, Mössbauer spectroscopy International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, Vol. 2, No. 8, 2010, pp. 33-39