The first structural, morphological and magnetic property studies on spinel nickel cobaltite nanoparticles synthesized from non-standard reagents

Abstract

In this paper, using a molten salt process, nickel cobaltite nanoparticles were successfully synthesized for the first time from non-standard reagents. Diverse techniques were applied for the characterization of this multifunctional nanomaterial. TGA shows the thermal behavior of the mixed non-annealed powder. XRD, FTIR, TEM, EDS, XPS, and MPMS were used to characterize the composition, structural properties, morphology, oxidation states, and magnetic measurements of the prepared samples, respectively. All the analyzed results indicated that the NiCo₂O₄ nanoparticles were successfully obtained with a spinel structure and a high purity at 300 °C. The two M–O absorption bands characteristic of the NiCo₂O₄ spinel structure are detected. The nanoparticles have a hexagonal and spherical morphology with an average size close to 7 nm. EDS spectra confirm the purity of the nickel cobaltite. The magnetic measurements illustrate a ferrimagnetic behavior of NiCo₂O₄ at room temperature. This work presents a very promising approach for the first-time synthesis of multifunctional nickel cobaltite nanoparticles from non-standard reagents that are very competitive in many electrochemical applications as supercapacitors.