NiFe2O4/activated carbon nanocomposite as magnetic material from petcoke

Nickel ferrite (NiFe2O4) was supported on activated carbon (AC) from petroleum coke (petcoke). Potassium hydroxide (KOH) was employed with petcoke to produce activated carbon. NiFe2O4 were synthesized using PEG-Oleic acid assisted hydrothermal method. The structural and magnetic properties were determined using thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TGA-DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (IR-FT), surface area (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). XRD analysis revealed the cubic spinel structure and ferrite phase with high crystallinity. IR-FT studies showed that chemical modification promoted the formation of surface oxygen functionalities. Morphological investigation by SEM showed conglomerates of spherical nanoparticles with an average particle size of 72 nm and TEM showed the formation of NiFe2O4/carbon nanofibers. Chemical modification and activation temperature of 800 °C prior to activation dramatically increased the BET surface area of the resulting activated carbon to 842.4 m2/g while the sulfur content was reduced from 6 to 1%. Magnetic properties of nanoparticles show strong dependence on the particle size.