Influence of calcination rate on morphologies and magnetic properties of MnFe2O4 nanofibers

In the present study, we succesfully synthesized electrospun MnFe2O4 nanofibers (NFs) from poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone)/manganese(II) nitrate composite by electrospinning and then as-spun NFs were calcined 450 degrees C for 2 h in air atmosphere to remove the polymer matrix and fabricate inorganic MnFe2O4 nanofibers. In order to investigate the sintering behavior of MnFe2O4 nanofibers in air atmosphere, the synthesized as-spun nanofibers were calcined with different calcination rates. Thus the effect of calcination rate on structure and morphology of nanofibers were discussed clearly. The structural, magnetic, morphological, spectroscopic and thermal characterizations were also done by XRD, VSM, TEM, SEM, FTIR and TG analysis. In the presence of slow calcination rate, only peaks of MnFe2O4 could be observed on other hand in the presence of rapid calcination rate, formation of an impurity was observed. Scanning electron microscope images revealed that MnFe2O4 nanorods possess a broader range size distribution with higher particle size. Also, magnetic properties were both size and shape dependent. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.