Superparamagnetism is a phenomenon caused by quantum effects in magnetic nanomaterials. Zero-valent metals with diameters below 5 nm have been suggested as superior alternatives to superparamagnetic metal oxides, having greater superspin magnitudes and lower levels of magnetic disorder. However, synthesis of such nanometals has been hindered by their chemical instability. Here we present a method for preparing air-stable superparamagnetic iron nanoparticles trapped between thermally reduced graphene oxide nanosheets and exhibiting ring-like or core-shell morphologies depending on iron concentration. Importantly, these hybrids show superparamagnetism at room temperature and retain it even at 5 K. The corrected saturation magnetization of 185 Am(2) kg(-1) is among the highest values reported for iron-based superparamagnets. The synthetic concept is generalized exploiting functional groups of graphene oxide to stabilize and entrap cobalt, nickel and gold nanoparticles, potentially opening doors for targeted delivery, magnetic separation and imaging applications.

• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Retracted Publication MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH

Owing to Mössbauer spectroscopy, an advanced characterization technique for iron-containing materials, the present study reveals previously unknown possibilities using l-amino acids for the generation of magnetic particles. Based on our results, a simple choice of the order of l-amino acids addition into a reaction mixture containing ferrous ions leads to either superparamagnetic ferric oxide/oxyhydroxide particles, or magnetically strong Fe0-Fe2O3/FeOOH core-shell particles after chemical reduction. Conversely, when ferric salts are employed with the addition of selected l-amino acids, only Fe0-Fe2O3/FeOOH core-shell particles are observed, regardless of the addition order. We explain this phenomenon by a specific transient/intermediate complex formation between Fe2+ and l-glutamic acid. This type of complexation prevents ferrous ions from spontaneous oxidation in solutions with full air access. Moreover, due to surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy we show that the functional groups of l-amino acids are not destroyed during the borohydride-induced reduction. These functionalities can be further exploited for (i) attachment of l-amino acids to the as-prepared magnetic particles, and (ii) for targeted bio- and/or environmental applications where the surface chemistry needs to be tailored and directed toward biocompatible species.

• MeSH
• Amino Acids chemistry   MeSH
• Magnetics methods   MeSH
• Nanoparticles chemistry   MeSH
• Oxidation-Reduction MeSH
• Solutions chemistry   MeSH
• Iron chemistry   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Amino Acids MeSH
• Solutions MeSH
• Iron MeSH

The fabrications of iron oxides nanoparticles using co-precipitation and gadolinium nanoparticles using water in oil microemulsion method are reported in this paper. Results of detailed phase analysis by XRD and Mössbauer spectroscopy are discussed. XRD analysis revealed that the crystallite size (mean coherence length) of iron oxides (mainly γ-Fe(2)O(3)) in the Fe(2)O(3) sample was 30 nm, while in Fe(2)O(3)/SiO(2) where the ε-Fe(2)O(3) phase dominated it was only 14 nm. Gd/SiO(2) nanoparticles were found to be completely amorphous, according to XRD. The samples showed various shapes of hysteresis loops and different coercivities. Differences in the saturation magnetization (MS) correspond to the chemical and phase composition of the sample materials. However, we observed that MS was not reached in the case of Fe(2)O(3)/SiO(2), while for Gd/SiO(2) sample the MS value was extremely low. Therefore we conclude that only unmodified Fe(2)O(3) nanoparticles are suitable for intended biosensing application in vitro (e.g. detection of viral nucleic acids) and the phase purification of this sample for this purpose is not necessary.

• Keywords
• Magnetic nanoparticles, gadolinium nanoparticles, iron oxide, silica coating,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH