α-Fe-incorporated nanoporous carbon with magnetic properties

A kind of magnetic nanoporous carbon (MNC) has been synthesized through nanocasting strategy by using ordered mesoporous silica as a hard template and sugar as a carbon source. Small angle X-ray diffraction measurements show that MNC basically resembles the pore symmetry of the template, namely, two-dimensional (21)) hexagonal mesostructure with P6mm space group. Results also indicate that, the introduced iron precursor, Fe(NO3)(3)center dot 9H(2)O, was decomposed and in-situ confined within the carbon framework, being present in a form of alpha-Fe nanoparticles, which results in superparamagnetic property and good separability of MNC. As evidenced by desorption kinetic studies, MNC is a very promising carrier for drug delivery applications. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.