Determination of the Size Distribution of Magnetite Nanoparticles from Magnetic Measurements

Particle size distributions in 10 nm magnetite ferrofluids are analyzed based on both dc and ac magnetic measurements. Modified log-normal distributions are used for fitting the experimental results, which allows for a proper account of the narrow distributions. The calculated average particle sizes are in good agreement with the TEM results. However the ac method gives a much narrower distribution width than that of the dc magnetization curve fit. The proposed measurements combined with the analysis methods are useful for the characterization of ferrofluids being considered for biomedical applications.