Magnetite nanoparticles were synthesized using the Massart
method varying the total iron concentration and the temperature
with the posterior insertion of synthetic magnetite in cellulose
beads obtained by the inverse w/o emulsion method. At room
temperature, the diameter of magnetite nanoparticles is linearly
dependent on the total iron concentration, increasing in size from
6.5 to 12.5 nm, as the concentration changes from 0.04 to
0.8 mol l1. The morphology of the magnetite particles is of
spherical but incipient octahedral crystals are observed. With
increasing iron concentration and temperature, an asymmetrical
distribution as well as dispersion in precipitated magnetite size
appeared. The magnetite obtained at 0.8 mol l1 and room
temperature, which has a similar diameter to the sample
synthesized at 0.4 mol l1 and 70 8C, represents an economical
variant of superparamagnetic nanoparticle synthesis because of its
high yield. Using the microtome cuts the spherical cellulose beads
reveal its internal structure containing large pores of about one
hundred nanometers as shown by TEM analysis. Magnetite
nanoparticles are confined within the pores that exist in the
cellulose structure. The magnetite nanoparticles maintain their
magnetic properties after the sphere flocculation.