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SQUID magnetometry and electron magnetic resonance (EMR) spectroscopy at 9.28 GHz were employed to probe magnetism and surface spin disorder in Fe3 O4 nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed magnetite particles with size ≃8 nm. Magnetization (M) versus temperature studies yielded blocking temperature TB ≃ 170 K in H = 50 Oe. For T > TB, M scales approximately as H/T with μP ≃ 5400 μB as the magnetic moment/particle. At 5 K, the magnitudes of hysteresis loop parameters viz. coercivity Hc ≃ 37 Oe and saturation magnetization M8 = 62 emu/g are considerably smaller than the reported values for larger 150 nm Fe3 O4 particles. In EMR studies, a single symmetric line at g ≃ 2.11 with linewidth ΔH = 850 Oe is observed at 300 K with the g-value and ΔH increasing with decreasing T. These results are interpreted in terms of a disordered surface spin layer of 0.5 nm thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature dependence (5 K to 300 K) of the magnetic properties of two Fe/SiO2 (15/85) nanocomposites with Fe particle size D ≃ 17 nm and 30 nm is reported using magnetometry and electron magnetic resonance (EMR) spectroscopy. Structural characterization of the samples, done by X-ray diffraction, TEM, and Mössbauer spectroscopy shows the presence of α-Fe, amorphous SiO2, and some nanosize Fe3+ oxides. Both samples are ferromagnets in the 5 K to 370 K range with coercivity HC(30 nm) > HC(17 nm). In EMR studies, a single resonance line near g = 2.2 characteristic of α-Fe is observed in both samples at 300 K, with linewidth ΔH(30 nm) > ΔH(17 nm). With decreasing temperature, the EMR line shifts to lower fields and broadens, which is similar to observations in other nanoparticle systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]