One-pot synthesis and properties of Mn-doped maghemite nanoparticles using acetylacetonate precursors.

A simple one-pot synthesis was utilized to prepare Mn-doped maghemite nanoparticles. A homogenized mixture of Mn- and Fe-acetylacetonates was heated in air atmosphere at 300 °C to produce Mn-doped maghemite. XRD showed only the presence of a spinel crystal structure with a linear increase of the unit-cell volume up to 20 mol% of the Mn dopant. Possible structural changes with increased Mn doping are briefly discussed.57Fe Mössbauer spectra recorded at 77 K were fitted with two sextets of lines corresponding to Fe3+ ions at A-tetrahedral and B-octahedral sites in maghemite. FE SEM images showed that Mn-doped maghemite nanoparticles were of good uniformity, with the crystallite size varying from 24 to 35 nm, as determined by XRD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]