EFFECTS OF CALCINATION CONDITIONS ON PARTICLE SIZE AND MORPHOLOGY OF NiFe2O4 NANOPARTICLES SYNTHESIZED BY SOLID-STATE REACTION

Nickel ferrite (NiFe2O4 ) nanoparticles were synthesized via low temperature solid-state reaction. The precursors prepared by grinding the mixture of FeSO4 center dot 7H(2)O, NiSO4 center dot 6H(2)O, NaOH and dispersant (NaCl) sufficiently at room temperature were calcined under various calcination conditions to obtain NiFe2O4 spinel nanoparticles. The effects of the calcination conditions, namely calcination temperature and heat preservation time, on particle size and morphology have been investigated in detail. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to characterize the as-synthesized particles. The results indicate that particle size and morphology can be controlled by calcination conditions. The low temperature solid-state reaction technique is a convenient, inexpensive and effective preparation method of NiFe2O4 in high yield.