The properties of Mn–CuFe2O4 spinel ferrite nanoparticles under various synthesis conditions

The structural, morphological, magnetic, dielectric, and gas analyzing properties are studied in CuFe₂O₄(Mn–CuFe₂O₄) substituted spinel ferrite nanoparticles synthesized via evaporation and automatic combustion. The obtained nanoparticles are established to possess a spherical shape. The smallest size of Mn–CuFe₂O₄ (~9 nm) nanoparticles is achieved at using automatic combustion. X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy reveal that the crystal lattice constant and the Mn–CuFe₂O₄ nanoparticle size are larger at augmenting the annealing temperature from 600 to 900°С. The dielectric permeability and losses of Mn–CuFe₂O₄ nanoparticles are studied at various synthesis conditions and temperatures of annealing. Various aspects of gas sensibility of synthesized Mn–CuFe₂O₄ nanoparticles are tested, as well. The maximum response to the presence of liquefied petroleum gas is 0.28 at the optimum working temperature of 300°C for Mn–CuFe₂O₄ nanoparticles obtained via automatic combustion and it is 0.23 at 250°C for deposited nanoparticles.

     

Monte Carlo simulations of copper clustering in Fe–Cu alloys under irradiation

We present the computational approach for studying the microstructures of Cu clusters in Fe–Cu alloys by combining the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and Monte Carlo methods. The MD simulation is used to characterize the primary damage resulting from the displacement cascade in Fe. Then, using the Metropolis Monte Carlo methods, the microstructure of the Cu clusters is predicted under the assumption that the system will evolve towards the equilibrium state. The formation of the Cu clusters is apparent for Fe–Cu alloys of a higher Cu content (1.0 w/o), whereas the degree of Cu clustering is not significant for the lower Cu content (0.1 w/o) alloys. The atomic configuration of the Cu–vacancy complex under irradiation, produced by this simulation, is in a fair agreement with the experiments. The simulation is expected to provide important information on the Cu-cluster morphology, which is useful for experimental data analysis.     

Reduction of hematite with ethanol to produce magnetic nanoparticles of Fe3O4, Fe1 − x O or Fe0 coated with carbon

The production of magnetic nanoparticles of Fe₃O₄ or Fe⁰ coated with carbon and carbon nanotubes was investigated by the reduction of hematite with ethanol in a Temperature Programmed Reaction up to 950°C. XRD and Mössbauer measurements showed after reaction at 350°C the partial reduction of hematite to magnetite. At 600°C the hematite is completely reduced to magnetite (59%), wüstite (39%) and metallic iron (7%). At higher temperatures, carbide and metallic iron are the only phases present. TG weight losses suggested the formation of 3–56 wt.% carbon deposits after reaction with ethanol. It was observed by SEM images a high concentration of nanometric carbon filaments on the material surface. BET analyses showed a slight increase in the surface area after reaction. These materials have potential application as catalyst support and removal of spilled oil contaminants.     

Chemical,magnetic and charge ordering in the system hematite–ilmenite,Fe2O3–FeTiO3

Spin polarized electronic structure calculations of total energies for ordered supercells in the system Fe₂O₃–FeTiO₃ suggest that some layered ordered phases are more stable than an isocompositional mechanical mixture of hematite, Fe₂O₃, and ilmenite, FeTiO₃. This result contradicts established ideas about hematite–ilmenite phase relations because it suggests that there is at least one stable ordered phase with a bulk composition intermediate between hematite and ilmenite. It is not clear if this result is an artifact of the approximations made in generalized gradient spin density functional calculations, or if an intermediate phase, or phases, is in fact stable. The electronic structure of a 30-atom layered supercell was studied by a variety of techniques. The supercell structure is FTFFFT, where F is an Fe layer and T is a Ti layer perpendicular to the hexagonal c axis. The idea was to investigate possible charge ordering on Fe sites, that is a postulate of the ‘lamellar magnetism hypothesis’, but significant Fe²⁺–Fe³⁺ordering is not predicted.     

Magnetoresistance and magnetic properties of Fe3O4 nanoparticle compacts

In this paper,we report on the magnetic properties of Fe3O4 nanoparticles with different grain sizes under different pressures.In all the samples,the saturated magnetization Ms shows a linear decrease with increasing pressure.The thickness of the magnetic dead layer on the nanoparticle surface nuder different pressures was roughly estimated,which also increases with increasing pressure.The transport measurements of the nanoparticle Fe3O4 compacts show that the low-field magnetoresistance (MR) value is insensitive to the grain size in a wide temperature range;however,the high-field MR value is dependent on grain size,especially at low temperatures.These experimental results can be attributed to the different surface states of the nanoparticles.     

Thermodynamic modeling of oxide phases in the Fe–Mn–O system

A critical evaluation and thermodynamic modeling for thermodynamic properties of all oxide phases and phase diagrams in the Fe–Mn–O system are presented. Optimized Gibbs energy parameters for the thermodynamic models of the oxide phases were obtained which reproduce all available and reliable experimental data within error limits from 298 K to above the liquidus temperatures at all compositions covering from known oxide phases, and oxygen partial pressure from metal saturation to 0.21 bar. The optimized thermodynamic properties and phase diagrams are believed to be the best estimates presently available. Two spinel phases (cubic and tetragonal) were modeled using Compound Energy Formalism (CEF) with the use of physically meaningful parameters. The present Fe–Mn spinel solutions can be integrated into a larger spinel solution database, which has been already developed. The database of the model parameters can be used along with a software for Gibbs energy minimization in order to calculate any type of phase diagram section and thermodynamic properties.     

One-pot synthesis and characterization of rhodamine derivative-loaded magnetic core–shell nanoparticles

A new method to produce elaborate nanostructure with magnetic and fluorescent properties in one entity is reported in this article. Magnetite (Fe₃O₄) coated with fluorescent silica (SiO₂) shell was produced through the one-pot reaction, in which one reactor was utilized to realize the synthesis of superparamagnetic core of Fe₃O₄, the formation of SiO₂ coating through the condensation and polymerization of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), and the encapsulation of tetramethyl rhodamine isothiocyanate-dextran (TRITC-dextran) within silica shell. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were carried out to investigate the core–shell structure. The magnetic core of the core–shell nanoparticles is 60 ± 10 nm in diameter. The thickness of the fluorescent SiO₂ shell is estimated at 15 ± 5 nm. In addition, the fluorescent signal of the SiO₂ shell has been detected by the laser confocal scanning microscopy (LCSM) with emission wavelength (λ_em) at 566 nm. In addition, the magnetic properties of TRITC-dextran loaded silica-coating iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ NPs) were studied. The hysteresis loop of the core–shell NPs measured at room temperature shows that the saturation magnetization (M _s) is not reached even at the field of 70 kOe (7T). Meanwhile, the very low coercivity (H _c) and remanent magnetization (M _r) are 0.375 kOe and 6.6 emu/g, respectively, at room temperature. It indicates that the core–shell particles have the superparamagnetic properties. The measured blocking temperature (T _B) of the TRITC-dextran loaded Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ NPs is about 122.5 K. It is expected that the multifunctional core–shell nanoparticles can be used in bio-imaging.     

Size and morphological effect of Au–Fe3O4 heterostructures on magnetic resonance imaging

In this paper, we analyse the melting of a spherically symmetric nanoparticle, using a continuum model which is valid down to a few nanometres. Melting point depression is accounted for by a generalised Gibbs–Thomson relation. The system of governing equations involves heat equations in the liquid and solid, a Stefan condition to determine the position of the melt boundary and the Gibbs-Thomson equation. This system is simplified systematically to a pair of first-order ordinary differential equations. Comparison with the solution of the full system shows excellent agreement. The reduced system highlights the effects that dominate the melting process and specifically that rapid melting is expected in the final stages, as the radius tends to zero. The results agree qualitatively with limited available experimental data.     

The magnetic proximity effect in a ferrimagnetic Fe3O4 core/ferrimagnetic γ-Mn2O3 shell nanoparticle system

We report the magnetic proximity effect in a ferrimagnetic Fe(3)O(4) core/ferrimagnetic γ-Mn(2)O(3) shell nanoparticle system, in terms of an enhancement of the Curie temperature (T(c)) of the γ-Mn(2)O(3) shell (~66 K) compared to its bulk value (~40 K), and the presence of magnetic ordering in its so-called paramagnetic region (i.e. above 66 K). The ferrimagnetic nature of both core and shell has been found from a neutron diffraction study. The origin of these two features of the magnetic proximity effect has been ascribed to the proximity of the γ-Mn(2)O(3) shell with a high-T(c) Fe(3)O(4) core (~858 K in bulk form) and an interface exchange coupling between core and shell. Interestingly, we did not observe any exchange bias effect, which has been interpreted as a signature of a weak interface exchange coupling between core and shell. The present study brings out the importance of the relative strength of the interface coupling in governing the simultaneous occurrence of the magnetic proximity effect and the exchange bias phenomenon in a single system.     

Microwave absorption and Mössbauer studies of Fe3O4 nanoparticles

Materials consisting of nanometer-sized magnetic particles are currently the subject of intensive research activities. Especially, much attention has been paid to their promising features for microwave magnetic properties. Well dispersed Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles of 30 nm have been synthesized by oxidization method with NaNO₂, and the microwave magnetic properties of the composites have been studied. The real and imaginary part of relative permittivity remained low and nearly constant in the region of 0.1–18 GHz, respectively. As a result, the resin composites having a thickness of 2.0–3.2 mm, and containing 20 vol% Fe₃O₄ in the form of nanoparticles with an average diameter of 30 nm, exhibited excellent electromagnetic wave absorption properties in the frequency range of 4.5–12.0 GHz.     

Fabrication of cyclodextrin-functionalized superparamagnetic Fe3O4/amino-silane core–shell nanoparticles via layer-by-layer method

This paper presents a feasible protocol for the preparation of a novel versatile nanocomposite possessing superparamagnetism via a layer-by-layer method. We combined (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane-coated magnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (APTES-MNPs) with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD). The following unusual features were integrated in a single nano-system: (a) the silane coating outside the magnetic Fe₃O₄ cores derived from the hydrolysis of APTES acted as a coupling agent and provided amino group (–NH₂) for linking the CD molecule; (b) the outermost CD moieties can function as inclusion sites and specific containers for drugs and biomolecules; (c) the innermost magnetic cores were able to sense and respond to an externally applied magnetic field and their behaviors in vivo or in vitro can be artificially manipulated and navigated. The obtained nanocomposite turned out to be superparamagnetic with a relatively high saturation magnetization value of 69 emu g^?1, which implies potentially promising applications in magnetic drug delivery technology and bioseparation.     

Effects of damage rate on Cu precipitation in Fe–Cu model alloys under neutron irradiation

The formation of Cu precipitates and point defect clusters was investigated in two Fe–Cu binary model alloys, Fe–0.3Cu and Fe–0.6Cu, irradiated at 573?K at three different damage rates, namely 3.8?×?10^?10, 1.5?×?10^?8 and 5?×?10^?8?dpa (displacements per atom)/s, up to about 1.6?×?10^?2?dpa. Results of positron annihilation experiments indicated that Cu precipitates were formed in these irradiations with different damage rates. The growth of Cu precipitates does not increase monotonously with increasing irradiation dose, but it rather depends on the nucleation and growth of microvoids. It is also clear that the nucleation and growth of microvoids are influenced by the irradiation dose rate.     

Ultrafast laser based “green” synthesis of non-toxic nanoparticles in aqueous solutions

Inorganic nanoparticles offer novel promising properties for biological sensing and imaging, as well as in therapeutics. However, these applications are often complicated by the possible toxicity of conventional nanomaterials, arising as a result of inadequate purification procedures of nanoparticles obtained via synthetic pathways using toxic or non-biocompatible substances. We review novel femtosecond laser-assisted methods, which enable the preparation of metal nanomaterials in clean, biologically friendly aqueous environment (“green” synthesis) and thus completely solve the toxicity problem. The proposed methods, including laser ablation and fragmentation, make possible the production of stable metal colloids of extremely small size (∼2 nm) with a low coefficient of variation (15–25%). Those nanoparticles exhibit unique surface chemistry and can be used for bio-imaging, cancer treatment and nanoparticle-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.     

Resistance oscillations in junctions of superconductor–magnetic system

Resistance oscillations as a function of magnetic field were observed in superconductor–magnetic tunnel junctions of Nb–Fe–FeO_x–SiO₂–Au–Nb. Junctions involving superconductor–magnetic layer superconductor system are exciting because for certain regime of ferromagnetic layer thickness, a Josephson coupling with an intrinsic phase difference of π might be stabilized. For fabrication of the tunnel junctions the thin films were deposited by RF/DC magnetron sputtering. Using photolithography and reactive ion etching, square junctions of size varying from 50 μm to 250 μm were defined. I–V characteristics and R vs. H characteristics were studied at 4.2 K. When the magnetic field is applied parallel to the junction plane, measurements of the junction resistance as a function of magnetic field at a fixed temperature show resistance peaks whenever the total magnetic flux through the junction equals an integral multiple of flux quantum. The penetration depth of the superconducting electrodes was estimated from the positions of the resistance peaks.     

Investigation of Cr-atom clustering in Fe‒Cr model alloys under irradiation

Irradiation-induced microstructure in Fe?Cr model alloys, 0.5 MeV-He ion-irradiated at room temperature, was investigated by atom probe tomography (APT). The APT results showed the formation of Cr-atom clustering depending on the ion-penetration depth. Although the Cr-atom clustering was observed in the irradiation damaged zone, this effect was not dominant in the less-damaged zone. In addition, we performed computer simulations using the Metropolis–Monte Carlo (MMC) method for investigating the tendency to form Cr-atom clustering in binary Fe?Cr alloys. The simulation results revealed the formation of Cr-atom clustering. The degree of Cr-atom clustering for the APT analysis and the MMC simulation was verified by plotting the Cr?Cr radiation distribution function. It was found that the number of Cr atoms, located in the first and second nearest-neighboring sites, increased significantly. Both results support the formation of Cr-clustering, which is believed to be a source of radiation hardening. The application of two techniques, APT and the MMC simulation, provided complementary information on the radiation-induced microstructure.     

Investigation of magnetic properties of Ni0.2Cu0.2Zn0.6Fe1.96O4–BaTiO3 composites

Composite materials with a ferromagnetic Ni_0.2Cu_0.2Zn₀₆Fe_1.96O₄ phase and a ferroelectric BaTiO₃ phase, xBaTiO₃–(1−x)Ni_0.2Cu_0.2Zn_0.6Fe_1.96O₄, in which x varies from 0 to 1, have been prepared via standard ceramics method with nanosized precursor powders. With the variation of x, typical magnetic hysteresis loops of composites have been observed in the composites at the room temperature. When the content of ferroelectric BaTiO₃ phase increases, the saturation magnetization and initial permeability decrease. Meanwhile, the coercive force tends to increase. Additionally, the cut-off frequency and quality factor of composite materials shift toward higher frequency. The simultaneous presence of nonmagnetic BaTiO₃ in composites pinned the domain wall motion, which lead to the decrease of initial permeability and the increase of cut-off frequency. Microstructure observation shows that the composites possess very fine crystalline grains.