Study of Ni/Fe nanotube properties

In this paper, we describe the synthesis, structure, and magnetic properties of Fe/Ni nanotubes fabricated in polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) ion-track membrane. Fe/Ni nanotubes were electrochemically deposited into PET membrane with cylindrical holes of diameter 111 ± 3 nm. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer analysis were used to determine the physical properties of the obtained nanostructures. It was found that the samples were single phase and had face-centered cubic structure with lattice parameter a = 2.866 ± 0.0008 Å. It was assumed that the observed phase was a solid solution of iron substitution in nickel. According to Mössbauer data, the hyperfine field amounts to 337.75 ± 0.4 kOe. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy data show a metal ratio in the nanotubes of around Ni20/Fe80. The magnetic domains have sizes close to the thickness of nanotube wall with their magnetization vector oriented at an angle of 37.9 ± 1.1° to the axis of the nanotubes.