No abstract

Nanoparticles of antiferromagnetically ordered materials acquire the uncompensated magnetic moment caused by defects and surface effects. A bright example of such a nanoantiferromagnet is nanoferrihydrite consisting of particles 2−5 nm in size, the magnetic moment of which amounts to hundreds of Bohr magnetons per particle. We present a brief review of the studies on magnetic properties of ferrihydrite produced by bacteria. Special attention is focused on the aspects of possible biomedical applications of this material, i.e., the particle elimination, toxicity, and possible use for targeted drug delivery.

A cold finger cell intended for the wax deposition measurements was fabricated and integrated into an NMR imaging probe for the noninvasive study of wax precipitation processes in situ. The cell was first tested with a model system; then, a series of experiments with different thermal gradients applied to the cell were performed for a waxy crude oil. NMR imaging of the operating cell revealed the formation of a deposit with the morphology and dynamics strongly correlating with the temperature regime. At higher temperatures of cold finger, the incipient wax gel ages uniformly, giving rise to the hard and thin inner layer of deposit accompanied by a branched loosely consolidated outer layer. Conversely, the lower temperatures facilitate formation of a thick deposit which no longer ages uniformly and slow down the diffusion-controlled growth of the branched deposit structure. The results obtained are consistent with the majority of the data previously reported. Thus, gelation of the wax at temperatures below the cloud point and subsequent thermal-driven diffusion processes are considered to be the dominant mechanisms of the deposit formation. The counter diffusion and Ostwald ripening aging concepts were found to be relevant in the case of the cold finger study and account for the phenomena observed in this work. The information obtained via NMR imaging is highly complementary to the results obtained by other techniques that can aid in understanding the essential processes behind the wax precipitation phenomena. The approach developed can be effectively extended to study any thermal-driven phase separation process.