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The preparation of Fe₃O₄ from ferrous salt by air in alkaline aqueous solution at various temperatures was proposed. The synthetic magnetites have different particle size distributions. We studied the properties of the magnetite prepared by chemical methods compared with magnetotactic bacterial nanoparticles. The results show that crystallite size, morphology, and particle size distribution of chemically prepared magnetite at 293 K are similar to biosynthesis of magnetite. The new preparation of Fe₃O₄ helps to explain the mechanism of formation of magnetosomes in magnetotactic bacteria. The products are characterized by X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD), infrared (IR) spectra, vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).