Smart Tools for Smart Applications: New Insights into Inorganic Magnetic Systems and Materials

Abstract

In recent years, micro- and nanosystems with magnetic properties have been extensively investigated in many fields, ranging from physics to medicine. The research in these areas has lately shown that, if the magnetic compounds are opportunely functionalized and modified with moieties and specific functional groups, a plethora of challenging multidisciplinary applications is available, including the development of magnetically-controlled particles, stimuli-responsive materials, magnetically-guided chemical/drug-delivery systems, sensors, spintronics, separation and purification of contaminated groundwater and soils, ferrofluids and magnetorheological fluids, contrast agents for MRI, internal sources of heat for the thermo-ablation of cancer, and so on. Magnetic compounds have been found to be highly selective and effective in all these application fields, from the molecular level to the microscale one. This Special Issue aims at underlining the latest advances in the field of magnetic compounds, nanosystems and materials, covering a large variety of topics related to: Novel synthesis and functionalization methods, properties, applications and use of magnetic systems in chemistry, materials science, diagnostics and medical therapy.