One aspect of the present invention relates to a permanently linked, rigid, magnetic chain of particles prepared by sol-gel methods. A second aspect of the present invention relates to a method of preparing a permanently linked, rigid, magnetic chain of particles comprising: coating a core material with one or more polyelectrolyte layers resulting in a coated particle; further coating the coated particle with a layer of magnetic nanoparticles resulting in a magnetic particle; coating the magnetic particle with a layer of a polycationic polyelectrolyte resulting in a coated magnetic particle; and applying a magnetic field to the coated magnetic particle in the presence of a metal oxide or metal oxide precursor capable of undergoing hydrolysis.