An application of Mössbauer spectroscopy in the studies of iron - molybdenum silica mesoporous materials

Iron-molybdenum silica mesoporous materials were obtained by the application of direct hydrothermal method. Four samples with different metal contents relative to silica were investigated. Incorporation of iron and molybdenum ions in the synthesis stage led to structural changes of the MCM-41 support. With an increasing metals content, cylindrical pores of silica initially transformed into bottle-ink type pores, and then into the slit-like ones. Mössbauer spectroscopy investigations indicated that Fe ions were embedded in the silica walls and then formed nanosized crystallites in the pores. Superparamagnetic phase was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature.