Titania-coated manganite nanoparticles: Synthesis of the shell, characterization and MRI properties

Novel procedure for coating of oxide nanoparticles with titania, employing hydrolysis and polycondensation of titanium alkoxides under high-dilution conditions and cationic surfactants, is developed and applied to magnetic cores of perovskite manganite. Bare particles of the ferromagnetic La0.65Sr0.35MnO3 phase, possessing high magnetization, M10 kOe(4.5 K) = 63.5 emu g−1, and Curie temperature, TC = 355 K, are synthesized by sol-gel procedure and subsequently coated with titania. Further, a comparative silica-coated product is prepared. In order to analyse the morphology, colloidal stability, and surface properties of these two types of coated particles, a detailed study by means of transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, zeta-potential measurements, and IR spectroscopy is carried out. The experiments on the titania-coated sample reveal a continuous though porous character of the TiO2 shell, the nature of which is amorphous but can be transformed to anatase at higher temperatures. Finally, the relaxometric study at the magnetic field of 0.5 T, performed to quantity the transverse relaxivity and its temperature dependence, reveals important differences between the titania-coated and silica-coated nanoparticles.