Nanorods of manganese oxalate:: a single source precursor to different manganese oxide nanoparticles (MnO, Mn2O3, Mn3O4)

Nanorods of anhydrous manganese oxalate were prepared by the reverse-micellar method using CTAB as the surfactant. Manganese oxalate precursor was used to synthesize single phase nanoparticles of various manganese oxides such as MnO, Mn2O3 and Mn3O4 Under specific reaction conditions. Both MnO (28 nm) and alpha-Mn2O3 (50 nm) are stabilized as cubic phase. alpha-Mn2O3 shows a weak antiferromagnetic transition (T-N = 80 K), while the spinel Mn3O4 (100 nm) particles show a ferrimagnetic transition at 43 K.