Development of a Novel Aqueous Solution Based Chemical Methodology for Synthesis of Ni(1-x)ZnxFe2O4 Nanopowders and their Electrical and Magnetic Property

Abstract

A simple aqueous solution-based chemical methodology has been developed for the preparation of single-phase Ni1-xZnxFe2O4 nanopowder, where x = 0.2, 0.35.0.5 and 0.6. The average particle size of the synthesized powders was in the range of 30–50 nm. Precursor powders were synthesized by reacting aqueous solutions of metal nitrates with polyvinyl alcohol and sucrose and then evaporating the resulting solution to dryness. The precursors were calcined in air for 2.30 h at different temperatures ranging from 650 to 950°C. The synthesized powders were characterized by using thermogravimetric analysis-differential scanning calorimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy. Change of DC electrical resistivity with change in sintering temperature and microstructure was measured by using the two-probe method. The as synthesized nanopowders possess a high room temperature resistivity of ∼106–107 Ωcm. They exhibit a good amount of magnetization in the range of 49–61 emu/g and a wide range of coercivity of 20–73 Oe. The novelty of this method lies in its simplicity and cost effectiveness. This method has the capability of being an alternative route to the other reported synthetic methods.