Abstract
Ni nanoparticles (Ni-NPs), with diameter (D) ranging 5–30 nm, were synthesized by reducing nickel chloride with NaBH4 in the presence of polymer molecules of poly-vinyl alcohol (PVA) in cold water. Nickel chloride was dispersed in the PVA molecules which stabilized the resulting Ni-NPs. Experiments were carried out with and without PVA to elucidate the effect of PVA molecules on the structural and magnetic properties of Ni-NPs. It was found that both uncoated (uc) and PVA-coated (pc) Ni-NPs exhibit a tetragonal (t) crystal structure, i.e. different from the cubic (fcc) structure of bulk nickel. pc Ni-NPs (paramagnetic in nature) converted to fcc Ni (spherical shape, D ∼ 12 nm) on annealing at 573 K in air, exhibiting a saturation magnetization M s = 20.5 emu/g, squareness ratio M r /M s = 0.48 and coercivity H c = 248 Oe, which is higher than the bulk Ni (0.7 Oe). uc Ni-NPs showed little improvement in M s and H c on air annealing. The core–shell structure resulted in a high H c value in stable pc Ni-NPs in air. Electron magnetic resonance revealed exchange interaction between the core and shell, which changes on annealing in air.
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences, Department of Atomic Energy (BRNS-DAE), Government of India.