Synthesis and properties of oval-shaped iron oxide/ethylene glycol mesostructured nanosheets

We have demonstrated a new and facile bottom-up protocol for the effective synthesis of oval-shaped iron oxide/ethylene glycol (FeOx /EG) mesostructured nanosheets. Deprotonated ethylene glycol molecules are intercalated into iron oxide layers to form an interlayer distance of 10.6 Å. These materials display some peculiar magnetic properties, such as the low Morin temperature T(M) and ferromagnetism below this T(M) value. CdSe/ZnS nanoparticles can be loaded onto these mesostructured nanosheets to produce nanocomposites that combine both magnetic and fluorescence functions. In addition, iron oxide/propanediol (or butanediol) mesostructured materials with increased interlayer distances can also be synthesized. The developed synthetic strategy may be extended toward the creation of other ultrathin mesostructured nanosheets.