Electrochemical synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles within mesoporous silica microspheres

Magnetic nanoparticles within the pores of mesoporous silica (MS) microspheres have been synthesized by electrochemical method using a metal iron plate as sacrificing anode and a sheet of stainless steel as cathode in an alkaline aqueous medium containing complexing compounds. Finally, the so obtained iron-functionalized silica microspheres were thermally reduced under the hydrogen atmosphere to produce iron/silica magnetic composites. The TEM, SEM, XRD, HRTEM and EDS were used to determine the effect of insertion on the structure and porosity of the host matrices. The mechanism of iron nanoparticles formation within the mesopores appears to occur through the initial binding and coating of the pore walls to form wormlike structures within the mesoporous template. The iron/silica nanoparticles exhibit essential characteristics of ferromagnetic behavior, as investigated by magnetometry. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.