Synthesis and magnetic characterization of nickel ferrite nanoparticles prepared by co-precipitation route

Magnetic nanoparticles of nickel ferrite (NiFe2O4) have been synthesized by co-precipitation route using stable ferric and nickel salts with sodium hydroxide as the precipitating agent and oleic acid as the surfactant. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) analyses confirmed the formation of single-phase nickel ferrite nanoparticles in the range 8-28 nm depending upon the annealing temperature of the samples during the synthesis. The size of the particles (d) was observed to be increasing linearly with annealing temperature of the sample while the coercivity with particle size goes through a maximum, peaking at similar to 11 nm and then decreases for larger particles. Typical blocking effects were observed below similar to 225 K for all the prepared samples. The superparamagnetic blocking temperature (T-B) was found to be increasing with increasing particle size that has been attributed to the increased effective anisotropy energy of the nanoparticles. The saturation moment of all the samples was found much below the bulk value of nickel ferrite that has been attributed to the disordered surface spins or dead/inert layer in these nanoparticles. (c) 2008 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.

Structural analysis of nickel doped cobalt ferrite nanoparticles prepared by coprecipitation route

Magnetic nanoparticles of nickel substituted cobalt ferrite (NixCo1-xFe2O4:0 <= x <= 1) have been synthesized by co-precipitation route. Particles size as estimated by the full width half maximum (FWHM) of the strongest X-ray diffraction (XRD) peak and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques was found in the range 18-28 +/- 4 nm. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis confirms the presence of Co, Ni, Fe and oxygen as well as the desired phases in the prepared nanoparticles. The selective area electron diffraction (SAED) analysis confirms the crystalline nature of the prepared nanoparticles. Data collected from the magnetization hysteresis loops of the samples show that the prepared nanoparticles are highly magnetic at room temperature. Both coercivity and saturation magnetization of the samples were found to decrease linearly with increasing Ni-concentration in cobalt ferrite. Superparamagnetic blocking temperature as determined from the zero field cooled (ZFC) magnetization curve shows a decreasing trend with increasing Ni-concentration in cobalt ferrite nanoparticles. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Magnetic characterization of Co1-xNixFe2O4 (0 <= x <= 1) nanoparticles prepared by co-precipitation route

Magnetic nanoparticles of Ni-doped cobalt ferrite [Co1-xNixFe2O4(0 <= x <= 1)] synthesized by coprecipitation route have been studied as a function of doping concentration (x) and particle size. The size of the particles as determined by X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) analyses was found in the range 12-48 nm. The coercivity (H-C) and saturation magnetization (M-S) showed a decreasing behavior with increasing Ni concentration. M-S of all the samples annealed at 600 degrees C lies in the range 65.8-13.7 emu/gm. Field-cooled (FC) studies of the samples showed horizontal shift (exchange bias) and vertical shift in the magnetization loop. Strong decrease in exchange bias (H-b) and vertical shift (delta M) was found for low Ni concentrations while negligible decrease was found at higher concentrations. The presence of exchange bias in the low Ni-concentration region has been explained with reference to the interface spins interaction between a surface region (with structural and spin disorder) and a ferrimagnetic core region. M(T) graphs of the samples showed a decreasing trend of blocking temperature (T-b) with increasing Ni concentration. The decrease of T-b with increasing Ni concentration has been attributed to the lower anisotropy energy of Ni+2 ions as compared to Co+2 that increases the probability of the jump across the anisotropy barrier which in turn decreases the blocking temperature of the system.