Investigation of structural and elastic parameters of Nickel Ferrite by XRD and FTIR
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Date
2020-11
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G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand)
Abstract
Spinel ferrites have been at the center of attraction for researchers since their discovery. The wide range of applications of nickel ferrite such as in spintronics, environmental protection, medical diagnosis, etc. makes it an important example of inverse spinel ferrites. In the present investigation, nickel ferrite nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical route method using citric acid. The formation of a single-phase spinel structure was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction pattern. FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the results
obtained by XRD. The crystallite size estimated by Scherrer formula and W-H plot method was found to be 46 nm and 65 nm respectively. Despite the classification of spinel ferrites as normal, inverse, or mixed spinel, they can switch from one type to another depending upon synthesis conditions, crystallite size, etc. Therefore, the cation distribution study was done by comparing the experimental X-ray intensity ratios with the theoretical intensity ratios evaluated by the Buerger method. No conclusion could be drawn from this method so theoretical and experimental lattice parameters were compared to obtain the required cation distribution. Different structural parameters were calculated using XRD data and the effect of change in cation distribution on these parameters was also studied. Vacancy parameters were evaluated for quantitatively studying the occupancy of ions in the lattice. A method based on infrared spectroscopy was employed to evaluate elastic parameters. The change in cation distribution and crystallite size affected various elastic parameters. Rigidity modulus, elastic wave velocities, and Debye temperature were found to decrease when the size changes from bulk to nano. As the concentration of Nickel ions on the tetrahedral site increased, Young’s modulus was observed to decrease while the Bulk modulus increased. It was concluded from the present study that cation distribution
and crystallite size affect the structural and elastic properties of spinel ferrites.