Structural, Magnetic and Dielectric Properties of
NiFe2O4 Nanoparticles
Nidhi Somani, B. Sathyamoorthy*, P. Priyadharsini and G. Chandrasekaran
Department of Physics, Pondicherry University, R. Venkataraman Nagar, Kalapet, Pondicherry-605014, India
*
sathyaphysics13@gmail.com, Tel.: +91-9629940427.
Abstract
Nanoparticles of NiFe2O4 are prepared by sol-gel
auto-combustion method. The characterizations of crystal
structure, magnetic properties and electrical properties of
NiFe2O4 powder are done using XRD, FTIR, EDAX, VSM
and BDS. In this present work, structural, magnetic and
dielectric behaviors of NiFe2O4 nanoparticles are
systematically studied.
Keywords: Nickel Ferrite, Sol-gel Auto-Combustion,
Nanoparticle, X-ray diffraction, Ferrimagnetism,
Introduction
Spinel ferrites, a class of soft magnetic
material, with structural formula of MFe2O4 (Mdivalent metal ion), are one kind of magnetically and
electrically interesting material. They have important
properties such as low melting point, high specific heat,
large thermal expansion coefficient, low saturation
magnetic moment and low magnetic transition
temperature [1]. All their special properties depend
upon the nature of the ions, charges and their
distribution among tetrahedral (A) and octahedral (B)
sites. Nickel ferrite is one of the versatile and
technologically important soft ferrite materials because
of its typical ferrimagnetic properties, low conductivity
and thus lower eddy current losses, high
electrochemical stability, catalytic behavior, etc.
Nickel ferrite is an inverse spinel which contains Ni, Fe
and oxygen ions. Half of the ferric ions preferentially
fill the tetrahedral sites (A-sites) and the other occupies
the octahedral sites (B-sites). Thus, the compound can
be
represented
by
the
formula
(Fe1.03+)A[Ni1.02+Fe1.03+]BO42−, where A and B represent
tetrahedral and octahedral sites, respectively [2]. In this
present work, structural, magnetic and dielectric
behaviors of NiFe2O4 nanoparticles are systematically
studied.
LAKESHORE (Model: 7404) and Broadband
Dielectric Spectrometer
(BDS)NOVACONTROL
TECHNOLOGIES
(Model:
Concept 80).
Results and Discussion
The crystal structure and unit cell dimensions
of NiFe2O4 are confirmed by analyzing the XRD
pattern. The XRD pattern shows well resolved peaks,
which confirms a polycrystalline single phase nature.
The highest intensity peak at 2θ = 35.6° indicates the
formation of NiFe2O4 crystal. Absence of any
secondary peaks certifies that the preparation has
eliminated the formation of impurity phases. The
crystallite size is found to be 26nm and the XRD
pattern matches well with the literature (JCPDS 44 1485). The FTIR spectrum reveals the metal – oxygen
stretching vibrations in the range of 400 cm-1 - 600
cm−1. The EDAX spectrum of the nano-crystalline
NiFe2O4 shows the presence of only Ni, Fe, O which
authenticates the purity of the sample. The values of the
saturation magnetization (MS), coercivity (HC) and
retentivity (MR) of prepared NiFe2O4 nanoparticles are
21.16 emu/gm, 168.68 Gauss and 4.41 emu/gm
respectively. The low values of magnetic parameters
indicate presence of ferrimagnetic phase for prepared
NiFe2O4. The maximum electrical conductivity of
3.323×10-7 S.cm-1 was observed at 150oC.
Acknowledgment
The authors thank DST-FIST, Government of
India for funding the facilities available in the Central
Instrumentation Facility, Pondicherry University which
have been utilized in the present work.
Experimental
References
The proposed NiFe2O4 system of the present
study is synthesized using sol–gel auto-combustion
method. The prepared powder of NiFe2O4 are
characterized using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)PANalytical (Model: X’Pert PRO), Fourier Transform
Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)-SHIMADZU (Model:
FTIR-8700), Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM)-
[1] A. Baykal, N. Kasapoglu, Y. Koseoglu, M. S.
Toprak
and
H.
Bayrakdar.
“CTAB-assisted
hydrothermal synthesis of NiFe2O4and its magnetic
characterization”, J. Alloys. Compd, 464, (2008) 514518.
[2] K. Nejati and R. Zabihi. “Preparation and magnetic
properties of nano size nickel ferrite particles using
hydrothermal method” Chem. Cent. J, 6:23, (2012) 1-6.