Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2013 Jul 31;14(8):15977-6009.
doi: 10.3390/ijms140815977.

Tuning the magnetic properties of nanoparticles

Arati G Kolhatkar  1 , Andrew C Jamison, Dmitri Litvinov, Richard C Willson, T Randall Lee
Affiliations
Review

Tuning the magnetic properties of nanoparticles

Arati G Kolhatkar et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

The tremendous interest in magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) is reflected in published research that ranges from novel methods of synthesis of unique nanoparticle shapes and composite structures to a large number of MNP characterization techniques, and finally to their use in many biomedical and nanotechnology-based applications. The knowledge gained from this vast body of research can be made more useful if we organize the associated results to correlate key magnetic properties with the parameters that influence them. Tuning these properties of MNPs will allow us to tailor nanoparticles for specific applications, thus increasing their effectiveness. The complex magnetic behavior exhibited by MNPs is governed by many factors; these factors can either improve or adversely affect the desired magnetic properties. In this report, we have outlined a matrix of parameters that can be varied to tune the magnetic properties of nanoparticles. For practical utility, this review focuses on the effect of size, shape, composition, and shell-core structure on saturation magnetization, coercivity, blocking temperature, and relaxation time.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effects of various parameters (e.g., shape, size, composition, architecture) on the magnetic properties of MNPs. (Abbreviations and magnetic property-based nomenclature has been defined and discussed in the following sections).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Magnetic dipoles and behavior in the presence and absence of an external magnetic field. Based on the alignment and response of magnetic dipoles, materials are classified as diamagnetic, paramagnetic, ferromagnetic, ferrimagnetic, antiferromagnetic. Reproduced with permission from [57].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Magnetic behavior under the influence of an applied field, as further described in the text. The X-axis is the applied field (Oe), and the Y-axis is the magnetization of the sample as a function of field exposure (emu/g). Reproduced with permission from [6].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Experimental strategy for estimating the blocking temperature of magnetic nanoparticles.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a) Transition from superparamagnetic to single to multi-domain regimes. Reproduced with permission from [57]; (b) Maximum diameters for superparamagnetic and single-domain nanoparticles of different compositions. Reproduced with permission from [63].
Figure 6
Figure 6
Tetrahedral and octahedral sites in an inverse spinel structure of ferrites. Reproduced with permission from [98].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Frey N.A., Peng S., Cheng K., Sun S. Magnetic nanoparticles: Synthesis, functionalization, and applications in bioimaging and magnetic energy storage. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2009;38:2532–2542. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Colombo M., Carregal-Romero S., Casula M.F., Gutierez L., Morales M.P., Bohm I.B., Heverhagen J.T., Prosperi D., Parak W.J. Biological applications of magnetic nanoparticles. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2012;41:4306–4334. - PubMed
    1. Singamaneni S., Bliznyuk V.N., Binek C., Tsymbal E.Y. Magnetic nanoparticles: Recent advances in synthesis, self-assembly and applications. J. Mater. Chem. 2011;21:16819–16845.
    1. Lu A.H., Salabas E.L., Schuth F. Magnetic nanoparticles: Synthesis, protection, functionalization, and application. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007;46:1222–1244. - PubMed
    1. Koh I., Josephson L. Magnetic nanoparticle sensors. Sensors. 2009;9:8130–8145. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms