Biosynthesis and magnetic properties of mesoporous Fe3O4 composites

Magnetic Fe3O4 materials with mesoporous structure are synthesized by co-precipitation method using yeast cells as a template. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern indicates that the as-synthesized mesoporous hybrid Fe3O4 is well crystallized. The Barrett–Joyner–Halenda (BJH) models reveal the existence of mesostructure in the dried sample which has a specific surface area of 96.31 m2/g and a pore size distribution of 8–14 nm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements confirm the wormhole-like structure of the resulting samples. The composition and chemical bonds of the Fe3O4/cells composites are studied by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Preliminary magnetic properties of the mesoporous hybrid Fe3O4 are characterized by a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The magnetic Fe3O4/cells composites with mesoporous structure have potential applications in biomedical areas, such as drug delivery.