CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

tA facile method for the preparation of cobalt ferrite nanotubes by use of bacterial cellulose nanoribbonsas a template is described. The proposed method relays on a simple coprecipitation operation, which is atechnique extensively used for the synthesis of nanoparticles (either isolated or as aggregates) but not forthe synthesis of nanotubes. The precursors employed in the synthesis are chlorides, and the procedureis carried out at low temperature (90◦C). By the method proposed a homogeneous distribution of cobaltferrite nanotubes with an average diameter of 217 nm in the bacterial nanocellulose (BC) aerogel (3%)was obtained. The obtained nanotubes are formed by 26?102 nm cobalt ferrite clusters of cobalt ferritenanoparticles with diameters in the 9?13 nm interval. The nanoparticles that form the nanotubes showedto have a certain crystalline disorder, which could be attributed in a greater extent to the small crystallitesize, and, in a lesser extent, to microstrains existing in the crystalline lattice. The BC-templated-CoFe2O4nanotubes exhibited magnetic behavior at room temperature. The magnetic properties showed to beinfluenced by a fraction of nanoparticles in superparamagnetic state.