A facile method to the Ni0.8Co0.2Fe2O4 nanocrystalline via a refluxing route in ethylene glycol

Abstract Nanocrystalline Ni 0.8 Co 0.2 Fe 2 O 4 was synthesized by a simple refluxing route in ethylene glycol using sodium acetate as precipitator. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron diffraction (ED) showed that the as-prepared sample was indexed as the cubic spinel structure. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that the particles were spherical with the crystallite size in the range of 17–32 nm. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectra (ICP-AES) and Raman spectra confirmed the formation of the Ni 0.8 Co 0.2 Fe 2 O 4 nanoparticles. The magnetic properties of the sample were measured by using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) at room temperature, which showed that the sample exhibited a typical superparamagnetic behavior.