Ethanol-assisted synthesis and adsorption property of flake-like NiFe2O4 nanoparticles

Flake-like NiFe2O4 nanoparticles have been synthesized at a low temperature 120 degrees C and a short time 2 h by an ethanol-assisted hydrothermal method. The addition of ethanol in the ethanol/water mixed solution promotes the particle growth and changes the microstructure and physical characteristics of the synthesized NiFe2O4 particles. The characteristic diffraction peaks of NiFe2O4 spinel are observed from XRD patterns. Raman spectra prove the presence of the impurity hematite Fe2O3 phase and indicate the changes in cation distribution. SEM and TEM images show that the particles have flake-like morphology with narrow particle size distribution. The synthesized flake-like NiFe2O4 exhibits high adsorption capacity (92.5 mg/g) for Congo Red (CR) dye. The ethanol content in the ethanol/water mixed solution shows great effects on the structure, particle size, morphology, magnetic and adsorption properties of the synthesized nanoparticles. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.