Surface effects on the magnetic behavior of nanocrystalline nickel ferrites and nickel ferrite-polymer nanocomposites

The magnetization studies on nanocrystalline nickel ferrite as powder particles, and as diluted dispersion (10 wt.%) in polymer matrix (polymer nanocomposites) are presented. The two polymer-based nanocomposites were prepared via ball-milling and in situ polymerization, respectively. The magnetization measurements provide strong evidence of surface effects to magnetization, which explains the non-saturation of magnetization at high fields. The differences in the magnetization behavior of nickel ferrite as powder particles and in the ball-milled nanocomposite and the nanocomposite prepared via in situ polymerization are attributed to the different extent of interparticle interactions between the particles and the preparation route. The magnetization versus applied field behavior of the three ferrite systems show a similar jump in the initial part of the magnetization curve in all the cases which implies the existence of a core-shell like morphology of the particles over a large temperature range and its dominance over the interparticle interaction effects between the particles.