A reverse microemulsion route using Igepal CO 520 as a surfactant to synthesize NiAl2O4 nanopowders

In order to achieve a good performance of NiAl2O4 particles for any applications, an important parameter to be considered is the high surface area of nanoparticles. A high surface area of nanoparticles is achieved by having smaller particle sizes. Hence researchers pay much attention to improving the preparation method of these powders. The primary purpose of this study is to prepare Nickel ferrite of particle size of 14 nm by reverse microemulsion method. The microemulsion is prepared by mixing cyclohexane (oil phase), Igepal CO 520 (non-ionic surfactant), and mixed aqueous solutions of nickel II nitrate hexahydrate and aluminium nitrate non-hydrate (water phase). The microemulsion is injected with ammonium hydroxide to precipitate. The precipitate is then centrifuged, dried, and calcined to prepare NiAl2O4 nanopowders. The prepared nickel aluminate nanopowders were subjected to X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). XRD confirms the presence of NiAl2O4 with a cubic spinel structure. TEM shows the particle size is about 14 nm. The magnetization curves at 50 K and 300 K show the nanoparticles' antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic nature. The saturation magnetization value is 0.172 emu/g.