Preparation of acicular /spl alpha/-Fe nanoparticles in a lamellar liquid crystalline phase

Acicular /spl alpha/-Fe nanoparticles were prepared by sodium borohydride reduction of ferrous chloride in the presence of the liquid crystalline system, C/sub 12/EO/sub 4//water. The shape of the acicular particles was templated by the colloid and a magnetic field. The acicular particles obtained from the lamellar phase were 50/spl sim/150 nanometers long and 5 nanometers wide. The product also included some spherical particles of 10/spl sim/15 nanometers in diameter. The saturation magnetization was 94 emu/g and the coercivity was 420 Oe.