A brief review on the synthesis of maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) for medical diagnostic and solar energy applications

Magnetic nanoparticles are of great interest due to structure and composition of materials. MNP consists of cations, e.g., Fe, Ni, Co, Cr, and their oxides, such as magnetite (Fe3O4), maghemite (γ-Fe2O3), hematite (α- Fe2O3), cobalt ferrite (Fe2CoO4), and chromium dioxide (CrO2). Magnetic nanoparticles are gaining interest due to their useful electrical and magnetic properties and applications in magnetic storage, recording media, photo catalysis, and medical diagontics as well as in solar energy applications. Magnetic nanoparticles are regarded as the most practically important and useful due to its simple synthesis and the interesting magnetic characteristics of its nano-sized objects. This review summarizes recent commercial, industrial and bio-engineering applications and brief study of the methods for the preparation of magnetic nanoparticles with a control over the size, morphology and the magnetic properties.