Magnetite Oxide is one of the major ores of iron, and the most magnetic of all the naturally occurring minerals in nature.
Magnetite, which has the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) name iron(ii,iii) oxide, it is a metallic, black, opaque mineral that has the chemical formula Fe3O4, thus containing four oxygen atoms for every three iron.
Magnetite contains iron in two oxidation states, ferric (Fe3+) and ferrous (Fe2+), which is unique amongst the oxides of iron. Its structure is an inverse spinel, with the oxide ions forming a face centred cubic lattice, with iron taking the space in the interstitial sites.
Its primary use is as a source of iron.
More so, naturally occurring magnetite has been used as a catalyst for the high-efficiency degradation of hydrogen peroxide into hydroxyl radicals, which then were used to degrade para-nitrophenol.
Further degradation processes catalysed by magnetite fertilizer are those which eliminate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, n-alkanes and refractory oil residues as contaminants in soils.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) contrast agents are often reported as high efficacy applications for magnetite due to their superparamagnetic properties.
As a ferrofluid, Fe3O4 has found potential use in the treatment of hypothermia(20), whereby a solution of metallic materials (in this case magnetite) was suspended in a commercial gel to mimic mammalian tissue.
Text rights: (Prevoo, 2023)
Text source:Prevoo, D. (2023, November 24). Magnetite Applications and Uses. African Pegmatite. https://mineralmilling.com/magnetite-applications-and-uses/
