Effects of precursor types of Fe and Ni components on the properties of NiFe2O4 powders prepared by spray pyrolysis

The effects of the precursor types of Ni and Fe components on the morphology, mean size, and magnetic property of NiFe2O4 powders prepared by spray pyrolysis from the spray solution, with citric acid were studied. The precursor powders with hollow and thin wall structure turned to the nano-sized NiFe2O4 powders after post-treatment at a temperature of 800 °C. The nickel ferrite powders obtained from the spray solution with ferric chloride had nanometer sizes and narrow size distributions irrespective of the types of nickel precursor. The nickel ferrite powders obtained from the spray solution with ferric nitrate and nickel chloride also had nanometer size and narrow size distribution. The saturation magnetizations of the NiFe2O4 powders changed from 37 to 42 emu/g according to the types of the Fe and Ni precursors. The saturation magnetizations of the NiFe2O4 powders increased with increasing the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas of the powders.