EPR in functional structures based on doped (nano, meso)-porous silica and titanium dioxide

EPR investigations are performed on mesoporous silica (SBA15) functionalized by Nickel-cyclam complexes (1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane groups chelating nickel ions) and on mesoporous titanium dioxide with nitrogen doping. For functionalized silica, the magnetic behaviour of organometallic groups, their mutual interactions and dispersion in the host matrices are compared with respect to the doping rates and the synthesis procedures. The relaxation processes were analyzed from the thermal evolution of the paramagnetic spin susceptibilities and EPR line-widths. Particularly, some samples show the formation of clusters where phonon assisted one dimensional (1D) ferromagnetic ordering occurs below 45 K. For the mesoporous TiO2, systematic EPR investigations were performed on two main classes of materials with regard to the porosity degrees. The EPR experiments point out the efficiency of EPR method to probe the degree of functionalization of mesoporous silica or the nitrogen doping achievement in TiO2, and in general to give a valuable feedback to improve the synthesis routes of smart materials.