Investigations of reactivity and magnetic properties of nanostructured iron oxide within mesoporous silica materials

The change in reactivity for nanostructured iron oxide within mesoporous silica materials is demonstrated. Iron oxides were incorporated into the pore system of MCM-41 and MCM-48 silica materials and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction and nitrogen physisorption. Iron oxide shows significant changes in the reducibility by hydrogen compared to comparable bulk iron oxide phases. Partially reduced iron oxides within the mesoporous host were characterized by X-ray absorption spectroscopy and SQUID measurements.