The Study of Structural and Magnetic Properties of NiO Nanoparticles

Abstract

Nickel Oxide (NiO) is an important transition metal oxide with cubic lattice structure. Among the magnetic nanoparticles, fabrication of nickel nanoparticles is often more difficult than that of the other particles. This is because they are easily oxidized. To achieve pure nickel nanocrystals, numerous methods have been conducted in organic environments in order to prevent formation of hydroxide or oxidation. In the present work, we report the synthesis of NiO nanoparticles. Magnetic properties of NiO nanoparticles with different sizes and at different temperatures are compared. The phase structures, particle sizes and magnetic properties of NiO nanoparticles have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, TEM images and Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). We collected the experimental data reported in the literature, for the same conditions, and after fitting, extrapolating and doing some calculations. The magnetization for smaller nanoparticles is bigger for the samples we consider here. This difference could be explained by the difference of surface volume ratio of nanoparticle which shows the contribution of the paramagnetic surface is more important with respect to the anti-ferromagnetism of the core for smaller particles. Also the nanoparticle at lower temperatures shows bigger magnetization.