Improving magnetic properties of iron oxide nanoparticles from the synthesis

Paper presented at Latin American Workshop on Magnetism (LAW3M) that took place during 7-12th April 2013.There is an increasing need for magnetic nanoparticles for different applications that could be solved through high-performance techniques producing large quantities of nanoparticles, such as synthesis methods based on precipitation of Fe precursors in aqueous and organic media or aerosol pyrolysis. However, for real industrial applicability (kilogram-scale synthesis), especially in the case of biomedicine, it is necessary to overcome a series of difficulties such as surface disorder for the smallest nanoparticles, internal defects when growing large particles or the high tendency to aggregate in water that strongly affect their magnetic properties and finally their performance for a specific application [1]. Different approaches have been followed to optimize magnetic properties of iron oxide nanoparticles by controlling synthesis parameters. Thus, a considerable increase in the saturation magnetization, Ms (40%), and initial susceptibility of ultrasmall (