Crystallization Process and Magnetic Properties of Amorphous NiFe2O4 Nanoparticles.

We investigate the crystallization process of NiFe2O4 nanoparticles prepared by microwave heating technique, which were then characterized using X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, the differential scanning calorimetry, Raman scattering, Fourier transformed infrared spectra (FTIR), and magnetic measurements. The results showed that crystallization of the amorphous NiFe2O4 nanoparticles occurred at around 300 ^\circC . The best crystallization quality would be obtained by annealing the sample at 500 ^\circC . After crystallization, the sample shows ferromagnetic behavior with a saturation magnetization of about 30 emu/g. The FTIR and Raman measurements also provided further information about the crystallization process and the phase transformation of the NiFe2O4 nanoparticles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]