Novel magnetic organic–inorganic nanostructured materials

New nanostructured hybrid materials with both lipophilic character and magnetic properties have been prepared by grafting of long-chain surfactants to the surface of magnetite nanoparticles through siloxane or phosphonic functional groups. They show good stability, lipophilic character and versatile functionalization ability by co-assembling with either lipophilic or amphiphilic species. This behavior allows, for instance, their use in the uptake and transport of lipophilic drugs under a magnetic field and the formation of supramolecular assemblies with phosphatidylcholine, called magnetocerasomes.