X-ray diffraction, infrared and magnetic studies of NiFe2O4 nanoparticles

Abstract

Spinel ferrite nanoparticles plays important role in many applications due to their excellent structural, magnetic and electrical properties. Among the spinel ferrite nickel ferrite is a prominent candidate for various applications and is the subject of interest to many researchers. Therefore, attempt is made to synthesize NiFe2O4 nanoparticles and investigate its structural, infrared and magnetic properties for high frequency applications. NiFe2O4 nanoparticles were synthesized by sol-gel auto-ignition technique. Efforts are made to obtain nanopowder of high quality by taking extra care and some modification in synthesis procedure. In order to examine the phase purity and nanocrystalline nature, prepared nanopowder was subjected to X-ray diffraction studies. A close examination of XRD pattern revealed the presence of the reflections belonging only to cubic spinel structure. No extra peak was seen in the XRD pattern. The crystallite size was estimated using Debye-Scherrer's formula and found to be 22nm. FT-IR spectrum of NiFe2O4 shows the two prominent absorption bands near the frequency range 400 cm-1 and 600 cm-1. The important magnetic property was studied by M-H plot which was recorded using pulse field hysteresis loop tracer at room temperature. Using the M-H plots the values of saturation magnetization, coercivity, and remanence magnetization are recorded as 37.61 emu/g, 177 Oe, and 11.71 emu/g respectively. The obtained data for structural and magnetic properties will be useful for high frequency applications.