Magnetic Phase Transition in Nickel Oxide

The researchers worldwide are in a continuous quest to exploit nano-particles for human benefits. Nickel oxide is rated among a class of nano-materials whose structural and magnetic properties are of great interest at reduced size-scale. The present study focuses on the synthesis of phase pure nickel oxide nano-crystallites by a novel auto-ignition route to investigate its magnetic characteristics at nano-scale. The significance of fuel agent in phase stabilization has been revealed. X-ray diffraction confirmed the preparation of phase-pure samples of nickel oxide. Scherrer's relation was utilized to evaluate the crystallite size of the prepared samples. Ferromagnetic nature of the prepared nickel oxide nanocrystallites was determined by using a vibrating sample magnetometer, in contrary to the anti-ferromagnetic nature of the material in bulk form, attributed to the size effect.