A novel hydrothermal approach for synthesizing α-Fe₂O₃, γ-Fe₂O₃ and Fe₃O₄ mesoporous magnetic nanoparticles

A novel method to synthesize the three phases of iron oxide nanoparticles (hematite, maghemite and magnetite) using the same non-toxic inorganic precursors via a water–organic interface under the low temperature hydrothermal conditions is reported. The synthesized particles are characterized by Powder X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) results reveal the mesoporous nature of the particles. The magnetic properties of the nanoparticles are studied by Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) at various low temperatures and also at room temperature. The XRD peaks corresponding to each sample clearly depict the presence of the respective phase of the as-prepared magnetic nanoparticles. The nanoparticles of maghemite and magnetite have saturation magnetization of 58.56 and 40.30 emu/g respectively at room temperature, whereas the particles of hematite possess very low saturation magnetization value of 1.89 emu/g. Further, the magnetization is studied at four different temperatures and the zero field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) magnetization are reported. - Graphical abstract: Display Omitted - Highlights: • Hematite, maghemite and magnetite are obtained under hydrothermal synthesis. • α-Fe₂O₃, γ-Fe₂O₃ and Fe₃O₄ prepared are mesoporous and nearly monodisperse. • Near superparamagnetism is observed at room temperature for maghemite and magnetite