title: Formation of magnetite nanoparticles at low temperature: from superparamagnetic to stable single domain particles.
abstract: The room temperature co-precipitation of ferrous and ferric iron under alkaline conditions typically yields superparamagnetic magnetite nanoparticles below a size of 20 nm. We show that at pH  =  9 this method can be tuned to grow larger particles with single stable domain magnetic (> 20-30 nm) or even multi-domain behavior (> 80 nm). The crystal growth kinetics resembles surprisingly observations of magnetite crystal formation in magnetotactic bacteria. The physicochemical parameters required for mineralization in these organisms are unknown, therefore this study provides insight into which conditions could possibly prevail in the biomineralizing vesicle compartments (magnetosomes) of these bacteria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Baumgartner
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bertinetti
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Widdrat
authors.forename: Ann M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hirt
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Faivre
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003080:Cold Temperature; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D055944:Magnetosomes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010316:Particle Size
chemical_list: D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles