Sujit Samanta

Iron oxide nanoparticles stabilized inside highly ordered mesoporous silica

Nanosized iron oxide, a moderately large band-gap semiconductor and an essential component of optoelectrical and magnetic devices, has been prepared successfully inside the restricted internal pores of mesoporous silica material throughin-situ reduction during impregnation. The samples were characterized by powder XRD, TEM, SEM/EDS, N2 adsorption, FT-IR and UV-visible spectroscopies. Characterization data indicated well-dispersed isolated nanoclusters of (Fe2O3)n, within the internal surface of 2D-hexagonal mesoporous silica structure. No occluded Fe/Fe2O3 crystallites were observed at the external surface of the mesoporous silica nanocomposites. Inorganic mesoporous host, such as hydrophilic silica in the pore walls, directs a physical constraint necessary to prevent the creation of large Fe2O3 agglomerates and enables the formation of nanosized Fe2O3 particles inside the mesopore