Structural and Magnetic Properties of Monophasic Maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) Nanocrystalline Powder

Structural and magnetic studies of monophasic maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) magnetic nanocrystallites (MNCs) synthesized by the co-precipitation chemical route are reported in this paper. For the synthesis, a starting precursor of magnetite (Fe3O4) in basic medium was oxidized at room temperature by adjusting the pH = 3.5 at 80°C in an acidic medium without surfactants. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern shows widened peaks indicating nanometric size and Rietveld Refinement confirms only one single-phase assigned to γ-Fe2O3 MNCs. High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR-TEM) demonstrates the formation of nanoparticles with diameter around D ≈ 6.8 ± 0.1 nm which is in good agreement with Rietveld Refinement (6.4 ± 1 nm). A selected area electron diffraction pattern was carried out to complement the study of the crystalline structure of the γ-Fe2O3 MNCs. M(H) measurements taken at different temperatures show almost zero coercivity and remanence indicating superparamagnetic domain and high magnetic saturation.