A Comparative Study on the Structural and Magnetic Properties of Nickel Ferrite Nanoparticles Synthesized by Sol-gel and Coprecipitation Techniques

Nanomagnetic nickel ferrite particles were prepared by sol-gel and co-precipitation techniques. Synthesized samples were annealed at 400 C and 600 C for two hour to study the variation of properties with temperature. Structural characterization carried out using Xray Diffraction Technique (XRD), confirmed the formation of polycrystalline single phase nickel ferrite particles in both the methods. Morphology and size of the particles were investigated using high resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy(HRTEM). Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopic analysis of the samples indicates inverse spinel structure. Magnetic properties were investigated using Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). Sol-gel derived nickel ferrite particles shows better crystallinity and magnetic hysteresis with moderate magnetization; while co-precipitation gives particles with superparamagnetic nature at the same annealing temperature.