Magnetite is an iron oxide mineral with the ideal chemical composition Fe₃O₄, structurally represented as Fe²⁺Fe³⁺₂O₄, and crystallizing in the inverse spinel structure. It exhibits mixed valence of iron and electron hopping between Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺, imparting significant electronic conductivity. As a strongly ferrimagnetic material with high saturation magnetization and Curie temperature (~858 K), it is a key phase in rock magnetism, biomagnetism, and magnetic materials research. Magnetite participates in redox processes, can undergo the Verwey transition near 120 K associated with charge ordering, and serves as a reactive surface for adsorption and catalysis in geochemical and environmental systems.
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