Synthesis of Mesoporous Superparamagnetic Ferrite Nanoparticles (Fe3O4) Using Lyotropic Liquid Crystal Phase Templates

Mesoporous ferrite nanoparticles were synthesized by ultra-sonic assisted co-precipitation of iron chloride salts dissolved in aqueous domains of lyotropic liquid crystalline phases of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant. Microstructure, morphology, size distribution, porosity and magnetic behaviour of synthesized nanoparticles in deferent concentrations of the surfactant were studied. The liquid crystalline templates and the superparamagnetic mesoporous ferrite nanocrystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) method analysis was used to indicate the pore width and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) helped to indicate the specific surface area of mesoporous ferrite nanoparticles (Fe3O4) exhibiting a surface area up to 105 m2/gr giving rise to an average pore size of 14 nm. Rietveld refinement results show 75 % of synthesized powder is Fe3O4 and the rest about 25 % is ϒ-Fe2O3.