Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) are promising drug delivery carriers and hyperthermia agents for the treatment of cancer. However, to ensure their safety in vivo, SPIONs must be modified in order to prevent unwanted iron release. Thus, SPIONs were coated with silica layers of different morphologies: non-porous (@SiO2), mesoporous (@mSiO2) or with a combination of non-porous and mesoporous layers (@SiO2@mSiO2) deposited via a sol–gel method. The presence of SiO2 drastically changed the surface properties of the nanoparticles. The zeta potential changed from 19.6 ± 0.8 mV for SPIONs to −26.1 ± 0.1 mV for SPION@mSiO2. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area increased from 7.54 ± 0.02 m2/g for SPIONs to 101.3 ± 2.8 m2/g for SPION@mSiO2. All types of coatings significantly decreased iron release (at least 10 fold as compared to unmodified SPIONs). SPIONs and SPION@mSiO2 were tested in vitro in contact with human lung epithelial cells (A549 and BEAS-2B). Both nanoparticle types were cytocompatible, although some delay in proliferation was observed for BEAS-2B cells as compared to A549 cells, which was correlated with increased cell velocity and nanoparticles uptake.

We have studied the transition between two different magnetization reversal mechanisms for thin Co/Pd multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, appearing in magnetic dot and antidot arrays, which were prepared by nanosphere lithography. Various ordered arrays of nanostuctures, both magnetic dots and antidots, were created by varying size and distance between the nanospheres employing RF-plasma etching. We have shown that the coercivity values reach a maximum for the array of antidots with a separation length close to the domain wall width. In this case, each area between three adjacent holes corresponds to a single domain configuration, which can be switched individually. On the contrary, small hole sizes and large volume of material between them results in domain wall propagation throughout the system accompanied by strong domain wall pinning at the holes. We have also shown the impact of edge effects on the magnetic anisotropy energy.

Magnetic systems exhibiting an exchange bias effect are being considered as materials for applications in data storage devices, sensors, and biomedicine. Because the size of new magnetic devices is being continuously reduced, the influence of thermally induced instabilities in magnetic order has to be taken into account during their fabrication process. In this study, we show the influence of superparamagnetism on the magnetic properties of an exchange-biased [CoO/Co/Pd] multilayer. We find that the process of progressive thermal blocking of the superparamagnetic clusters causes an unusually fast rise of the exchange anisotropy field and coercivity and promotes easy-axis switching to the out-of-plane direction.

Magnetic properties of the Mott insulator with the pyrochlore structure Y 2 Ru 2 O 7 were investigated using 99 Ru Mössbauer spectroscopy. Bulk magnetization measurements confirmed appearance of the spin-glass-like antiferromagnetic order with very large differences between zero-field-cooled and field-cooled magnetizations below the Néel temperature T N =76͑2͒ K. The Mössbauer spectra were obtained above and below T N . Analysis of the spectrum recorded at 4.2 K suggested a noncollinear local ordering of ruthenium magnetic moments. The electronic structure of the individual ruthenium ion, responsible for magnitudes of hyperfine parameters and the ruthenium magnetic moment, was discussed within the framework of the crystalline electric-field model, including the spin-orbit coupling and the exchange interaction in the molecular-field approximation. Reasonably good agreement between calculated and experimentally determined parameters was obtained. Simultaneously, the experimentally observed easy plane of ruthenium magnetic moments was explained. A. Sample preparation and characterizationPolycrystalline samples of Y 2 Ru 2 O 7 and Y 2 Ru 1.99 Sn 0.01 O 7 were prepared by the solid-state reaction from weighted in proper molar ratios mixtures of powders: Y 2 O 3 , RuO 2 , and enriched 119 SnO 2 . The mixtures were prereacted at 800°C for 12 h in air. After grinding they were pressed into pellets and sintered at 1150°C for 16 h in air. The grinding and sintering cycle was repeated several times. The x-ray-diffraction measurements were performed using Cu K␣ radiation in D501 Siemens powder diffractometer.