Synthesis and Mossbauer studies of mesoporous γ-Fe2O3

A method of synthesis of mesoporous γ-Fe2O3 by thermal decomposition of iron citrate has been proposed. Investigations of the crystalline and magnetic structure of obtained materials were done. Nanodispersed maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) with the sizes of coherent scattering regions of about 4–7 nm consisted of one phase only after gel sintering at 200, 250 and 300 °C. The particles of synthesized materials were both in magnetically ordered, and superparamagnetic states, and they formed a grid-like mesoporous structure. The influence of magnetic dipole interparticle interaction on the parameters of Mossbauer spectra was observed. A phenomenological model of the differences between nanodispersed γ-Fe2O3 magnetic microstructures obtained after annealing at different temperatures was presented.