“…Hence, the stability of the functionalized NP translates into surfactant binding avidity to the NP surface and, correspondingly, into the potential modifications brought to the surface itself as a result of particle size. To this extent, magnetic NPs have been reported to assume an oxidized‐like state with an elementary unit cell that is similar to magnetite but includes only Fe 3+ ,18 whereas, in another instance, the magnetite (001) surface has been reported as preferentially terminated by tetrahedral Fe atoms, based on results from charge‐ordered density functional theory (DFT) calculations 19. NP synthesis itself is achieved by an array of methods, including reduction of hematite by CO/CO 2 ,20 coprecipitation from a solution of ferrous/ferric salt mixtures in an alkaline medium,21 hydrolysis,22 sol–gel‐based techniques, and oxidation of Fe(OH) 2 by H 2 O 2 23.…”