The synthesis of spinel-ferrite nanoparticles using precipitation in microemulsions for ferrofluid applications

Magnetic maghemite nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution were prepared in water-CTAB-hexanol-butanol microemulsions. The particle size was controlled with the composition of the microemulsion (water-to-CTAB ratio) and the temperature during synthesis. The saturation magnetization of the nanoparticles depended mainly on their size, ranging from 22 emu/g for a particle size of 3.4 nm to 64 emu/g for a size of 15.3 nm.