Fe O nanoparticles embedded in sol–gel vitreous silica. The effect of the catalyst nature

Abstract This work reports on recently investigated structural and magnetic properties of three FexOy–SiO2 nanocomposites prepared by the alkoxide route of the sol–gel method. Depending on the presence or absence of catalyst and on its nature (acidic or basic), important differences among the samples have been observed from the point of view of their structure and properties.