Assembly of magnetic nanospheres into one-dimensional nanostructured carbon hybrid materials.

The synthesis and characterization of carbon-coated ferromagnetic nanoparticles that organize into 1-D assemblies of micrometer-sized ferromagnetic chains is described. A controlled aromatization and carbonization of glucose under hydrothermal reaction conditions enabled the preparation of carbonaceous surfactants that were used as shells for the coating of ferromagnetic Fe(3)O(4) nanospheres with a uniform size distribution. Under controlled experimental conditions, it was, for the first time, demonstrated that glucose could be employed as the carbon source in the preparation of continuous 1-D carbon nanoparticle chains with magnetic nanosphere inclusions. The functional groups on the carbon surface will facilitate the linkage of functional groups or catalytic species to the surface in future application. The salient feature of the reported method was the assembly of magnetic nanospheres under hydrothermal reaction conditions in the absence of external fields.