Mössbauer Spectroscopy with a High Velocity Resolution in the Studies of Nanomaterials

The present review describes our long experience in the application of Mössbauer spectroscopy with a high velocity resolution (a high discretization of the velocity reference signal) in the studies of various nanosized and nanostructured iron-containing materials. The results reviewed discuss investigations of: (I) nanosized iron cores in: (i) extracted ferritin, (ii) ferritin in liver and spleen tissues in normal and pathological cases, (iii) ferritin in bacteria, (iv) pharmaceutical ferritin analogues; (II) nanoparticles developed for magnetic fluids for medical purposes; (III) nanoparticles and nanostructured FINEMET alloys developed for technical purposes. The results obtained demonstrate that the high velocity resolution Mössbauer spectroscopy permits to excavate more information and to extract more spectral components in the complex Mössbauer spectra with overlapped components, in comparison with those obtained by using conventional Mössbauer spectroscopy. This review also shows the advances of Mössbauer spectroscopy with a high velocity resolution in the study of various iron-based nanosized and nanostructured materials since 2005.