Magnetic 'nanomaterial has anti-counterfeit uses'

Researchers have developed an iron-cobalt-nickel nanocomposite that could have applications in protecting currency and security documents from counterfeiting.

The team – led by scientists from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Russia – says the nanomaterial has magnetic properties that can be tuned to controlled to generate a fingerprint that could be made unique to each item.

Writing in the journal Nanomaterials, they describe how it is possible to control the nanoscale magnetic material characteristics of the nanomaterial by changing the size, shape, composition, and structure of nanocomposites, which are made by chemical precipitation, followed by a reduction process.

“This method is simple and, most importantly, it allows the properties of the product to be controlled at each stage of its production, and chemically pure nanopowders to be produced with a given composition, shape, and dispersion,” says Yuri Konyukhov, deputy head of NUST’s department of functional nanosystems and high-temperature materials.