The Synthesis and Properties of Magnetic Nanoparticles

Magnetic nanoparticles are materials of great interest because of the remarkable fundamental properties exhibited by these materials as well as their technological potential in the area of biomedicine and other areas. The technologically useful properties of magnetic nanomaterials are not limited to their structural, chemical or mechanical behaviour, but also involve the phenomena that arise from their finite size and the surface effects that dominate the magnetic behaviour of individual nanoparticles. New techniques that have been developed recently have permitted researchers to produce larger quantities of nanomaterials and characterize them better. Here, some of the most promising procedures are reported, including techniques based on hydrothermal syntheses, sol-gel syntheses, co-precipitation syntheses, mechanochemical syntheses, sonochemical syntheses, spray pyrolysis and microemulsion-assisted syntheses.