Recent advances on nickel nano-ferrite: A review on processing techniques, properties and diverse applications
Graphical abstract
Introduction
Nano-materials are particles with one or more external and internal structure dimensions, or surface dimensions falling in the range of 1 nm–100 nm. As compared to their molecular-scale behaviour, nanomaterials have special optical, electrical, mechanical, and quantum properties at this scale. The quantum size approach affects the electronic properties of nanomaterials as we progress from the molecular to the nanoscale stage. Similarly, the physicochemical properties of nanomaterials are determined by particle size distribution, shape morphology, stoichiometry ratio, crystalline properties, and physico-chemical stability, surface properties like surface area/surface energy etc. The increase in the number of particles on the surface as compared to volume enhances the surface reactivity of the nanoparticles. Nano-dimension ferrites belong to a broad class of magnetic NPs and have a substantial amount of interest because of their wide applications in diverse fields, which range from biomedical to industrial (Kefeni et al., 2020). Ferrites NPs are commonly used magnetic materials (Ahilandeswari et al., 2020) and have substantial scope in the field of biomedical applications, such as tumor treatment, drug delivery (Reddy et al., 2012; Spirou et al., 2018), magnetic resonance imaging (Lee et al., 2015; Sohn et al., 2015; Zhu et al., 2012), bio-magnetic separation (Gijs et al., 2010), controlled drug release, cellular therapy, tissue repair, cell separation, purifying of cells, magnetoception, severe inflammation, and disability (Estelrich et al., 2015; Gupta and Gupta, 2005; Soenen et al., 2011). In industrial applications, ferrite nanoparticles are often used as adsorbents and catalysts (Barre et al., 2009; Dhiman et al., 2019a; Ibrahim et al., 2016; Mahfouz et al., 2015; Sharma et al., 2020a; Tan et al., 2015; Wei et al., 2014), in the manufacturing of electronic materials (Carpenter et al., 2004; Hasanzadeh et al., 2015; Tang and Lo, 2013), and wastewater treatment (Brar et al., 2010; Jasrotia et al., 2021; Kefeni et al., 2017a; Qu et al., 2013; Van Quy et al., 2007). Ferrites find their space in today’s sensors including biosensors, which are applicable for both industrial sector and bio-medical areas (Beveridge et al., 2011; Carregal-Romero et al., 2013; Dhiman et al., 2020b; Iranifam, 2013; Li et al., 2005; Xu and Wang, 2012). Additionally, ferrites possess strong antimicrobial activity against specific pathogenic micro-organism (Maksoud et al., 2018). They have high permeability, less value of the dielectric loss, and constant magnetization in the M-H curve (Abraham, 1994; Hemeda et al., 2018; Kumar et al., 2014)
Ferrites are ferrimagnetic materials in which oxygen anions and metal cations arrange themselves into space lattices with different geometric configurations (Pardavi-Horvath, 2000). Ferrites are mainly divided into four types, hexaferrite, garnets, and ortho-ferrites (Tolani et al., 2019). Table S1 summarizes the type of ferrite and its characteristics.
Depending upon the distribution of cations on tetrahedral (tetra) and octahedral (octa) sites, Spinel is broadly classified into three categories, namely normal spinel, inverse spinel, and mixed spinel ferrites.
Normal spinel ferrite:
Spinel ferrites are presented by general formula of Me2+Fe23+ . In spinel ferrites, divalent ions occupy 8 tetrahedral sites and 16 octahedral sites are occupied by trivalent cations.
Inverse spinel ferrite:
Divalent cations are only present at octahedral sites and trivalent cations are present in an equal number between octahedral and tetrahedral sites. The value of α is equal to 0 and Fe3+ [Me2+Fe3+] − is a general formula.
Mixed spinel ferrites:
Both divalent and trivalent cations are present on tetrahedral as well as octahedral sites. The general formula of mixed spinel ferrite is +1-α [] and the value of α is 0 and 1.
Spinel ferrite is known for its excellent magnetic and electrical properties, such as low coercivity, high electric resistivity, Curie temperature, and permeability (Cao et al., 2017; Gao et al., 2018; Heiba et al., 2015; Liu et al., 2012). Additionally, they have been reported for high frequency applications in the 3−30 GHz frequency range (Xie et al., 2007). During last few decades, spinel ferrites have been explored for their tailored properties and wide applications. Fig. 1a depicts the number of research papers published by the research community on spinel ferrite from 2015 to 2020.
The spinel ferrites are an important class of ferrimagnetic oxides because of their versatile magnetic and electrical properties (Mansour et al., 2016). Spinel ferrite has a cubic structure with the chemical formula MFe2O4, where M and Fe cations occupy tetrahedral and octahedral lattice sites (Atiq et al., 2017). A Schematic presentation of the spinel structure is shown in Fig. S1. M belongs to Ni, Zn, Co, Mg etc. divalent cations and iron (Fe3+) is a trivalent cation. As per distribution on both sites, the formula is written as: ) A []BO4, where x refers to the degree of inversion and λ depends upon the covalent bonding effect. The inversion parameter of a specific nano-structured ferrite varies depending on the synthesis process (Kumar et al., 2017). Spinel ferrites also can exhibit a partially-inverse structure, which can be described employing the x-parameter, like the occupancy of Me3+ cations on the A sites (Kaur and Bhargava, 2020; Tatarchuk et al., 2016). For larger cations, such as Mn, Mg, Ni, and Zn, to be accommodated, it is important to extend the lattice. The gap in tetrahedral and octahedral site expansion is defined by a parameter called the parameter oxygen or the parameter anion. The oxygen parameter is a term that describes the oxygen ion movement owing to cation replacement at the tetrahedral sites. As u increases, oxygen ions move such that the distance between A and O ions (rA) increases while that between octahedral and O ions (rB) decreases. When u parameter decreases, the O2− ions are displaced so that rA decreases and rB increases. The oxygen parameter has a neighbourhood value of 3/8 for all ideal spinels. But this trend gets slightly deformed for the real spinel lattice and typically corresponds to u > 0.375. The theoretical value of lattice parameter (ath), octahedral site ion radius (rB), and tetrahedral site ion radius (rA) for spinal systems were determined based on the cation distribution by the following ratio:Where, Ro is the oxygen ion radius O2− (1.38 Å); rA and rB belongs to ionic radii of A (tetrahedral) and B (octahedral) sites respectively, and u is the parameter of the anion (oxygen).
Section snippets
Why nickel nano-ferrite?
Nickel ferrites display an inverse spinel structure (Moradmard et al., 2015) with the formula [Fe3+↓]A [M2+↑Fe3+↑]BO2−4, where M2+ is a divalent cation and ↑ or ↓ represents the opposite spin of the A and B sites. Fe3+ ions settle into 8 tetrahedral cations and 16 octahedral cations are occupied by Fe3+ and Ni2+ ions (Arrasheed et al., 2021). Nickel ferrite has high electric resistivity, moderate magnetic saturation, low coercivity, low hysteresis losses and belongs to the family of soft
Synthesis techniques of nickel ferrite
Several synthesis routes have been opted for the fabrication of nickel ferrite nanoparticles. However, there is no worldwide accepted method of fabricating nickel ferrite nanoparticles and each synthesis route has their own boon and bane over one and another. The physical properties of are very specific to preparation route (El-Sbakhy et al., 2021). There are two types of methods: “top-down” and “bottom-up”, which are generally chosen for the preparation of nano-materials. The ions combine
Characterization of Ni nano-ferrites
During the last few decades, the relationship between particle size, composition, surface area, and shape of ferrites has been studied extensively. The structural, optical, magnetic, and dielectric properties of Ni ferrite nanoparticles have been identified using a variety of characterization methods. Researchers are interested in optimizing the synthesis route for Ni ferrite nano-materials to achieve tailored and useful properties.
Potential applications of nano Ni ferrites
Nano-metric ferrites are being increasingly commercialized these days. They are part of the cosmetic industry, strain-resistant textiles, paints, the electronics sector, and other industrial nanomaterials are a few examples. The magnetic, electrical, optical, and chemical properties of FNPs have attracted the interest of many researchers. Their electronic applications are numerous, ranging from medical to advanced information technology, such as satellite communication, antenna cores, computer
Research gap and future perspectives
Nickel ferrite nanoparticles have unique properties such as high saturation magnetization, low coercivity, high permeability, narrow bandage, and narrow size of particles. These unique properties of nickel ferrites are used in various applications of nickel ferrite nanoparticles. Still, things are required to improve the applications and beneficial properties of NiFe2O4 nanoparticles.
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According to their different parameters, researchers have adopted a proper method for the preparation of nickel
Conclusion
To summarize this review, nickel spinel ferrites fall into the category of ferri-magnetic materials, which are utilized in a broad range of applications. These ferrites have several appealing properties that have drawn the attention of material scientists. Researchers are interested in the synthesis of NiFe2O4 because of its interesting properties among the soft ferrites, such as high saturation magnetization, low coercivity, high permeability, and smaller size of particles. Co-precipitation
Declaration of interests
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors report no declarations of interest.
Acknowledgment
The authors are highly grateful to the research and scientific community who have made relentless efforts to bring novel data in the fields and topics of research and development discussed in this review.
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