Synthesis and characterization of magnetic mesoporous particles.

Magnetic mesoporous particles were synthesized and their magnetic and structural properties are reported. The synthesis procedure consists of four steps: (i) preparation of magnetite colloidal nanoparticles; (ii) growth of a silica layer; (iii) development of the mesoporous structure and (iv) template removal. Two different methods for the template removal were studied and their effectiveness was discussed. Magnetization and Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements showed superparamagnetic behavior for the particles at room temperature. X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption measurements showed a mesoporous MCM-41 structure with 2.48nm pore diameter and 1023m(2)/g total area. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.