Abstract
Mössbauer spectrometry confirms the presence of hematite, ferrihydrite and maghemite/magnetite in ferritin derived from human spleen tissues. The minerals are present in a form of small (about 4-5 nm in size) grains with highly disordered structure.
Consequently, at room temperature all agglomerates of ferritin nanoparticles show non-magnetic behaviour. Magnetic states are revealed at low enough temperatures below the so-called blocking temperature.
Employing Mössbauer effect measurements, the latter was determined to be of 16 K for the human spleen. Structural features of these tissues were studied by TEM technique.
Employing 57Fe nuclei as local probes both structural and magnetic features of the biological materials were investigated by Mössbauer spectrometry. It was possible to identify iron atoms and their neighbours.