Mixtures of nanotracers based on manganese and iron oxides for quality control of liquid feeds

Modern strategies in animal nutrition require increasingly sophisticated feed compositions, which, in turn, heighten the importance of achieving consistent blending, especially for juvenile livestock. Nutritionally optimized rations play a critical role in supporting accelerated development and maximizing nutrient utilization. To control the uniformity of mixing of dry feeds, ferromagnetic microtracers based on iron are actively used, which are effective due to their magnetic properties, which allows you to easily detect and control the uniformity of mixing. The limited effectiveness of such tracers in liquid feed applications led to the creation of innovative iron oxide-based magnetic nanomarkers specifically engineered for use in liquid formulations. Ensuring homogeneous mixing of liquid feeds is especially crucial, as it can be influenced by the choice of surfactant. Various emulsifying agents, including dimethylamine oleate and ammonium oleate, influence the dimensions and clustering tendencies of nanoparticles in different manners. Compared to ammonium oleate, DMAOA was shown to promote improved particle dispersion and greater suspension stability – factors essential for preserving feed quality. To measure the manganese content in the magnetic nanoparticles FexMnyOz, researchers employed a modified spectrophotometric method. This allows obtaining accurate data on the composition of nanoparticles, which is important for ensuring the effectiveness of quality control in feed production.