Effect of Annealing Temperature on the Structural and Magnetic Properties of NiFe2O4 Nanoferrites

Nanocrystalline NiFe2O4 spinel ferrites were synthesized by sol-gel method. The structural and magnetic properties were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). Annealing temperature showed prominent effect on the grain size. The average grain size of NiFe2O4 was observed to increase from 31 nm to 54 nm as the annealing increased from 500℃ to 1000℃. The IR spectra showed the absorption bands corresponding to stretching of tetrahedral and octahedral bands. The magnetic properties were observed to depend strongly on the annealing temperature.