Facile and green synthesis of NiFeAlO4 magnetic nanoparticles via arabic gum

Recently, spinels have been fascinating chemical compounds of nano scaled materials and their unique characteristics and extensive range of various technological applications have attracted the attention of many scientists in this field. NiFeAlO4 magnetic nanoparticles exhibit interesting properties and applications when compared with their bulk, such as lithium storage, gas sensing and electro-catalyst. NiFeAlO4 MNPs has a stable normal spinel structure of AB2O4 type; where the A-site is mainly occupied by divalent cations and the B-site by trivalent cations. In this work, for the first time, we have synthesized NiFeAlO4 magnetic nanoparticles using Arabic gum without any surfactant and reducing agent and water as solvent by sol-gel process, as a cheap and friendly approach to the nature. The nanoparticles produced were characterized by Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The powder (XRD) analysis revealed the formation of cubic phase NiFeAlO4 magnetic nanoparticles with average particle size of 26 nm.