Synthesis of ferromagnetic nickel ferrite nanofibers via electrospinning with iron acetate as an iron precursor

We report the synthesis of nickel ferrite nanofibers via an elecrospinning technique particularly using iron (II) acetate as an iron precursor. Nanofibers of a single-phase nickel ferrite with a uniform diameter of ~90 nm were successfully synthesized by adopting a properly prepared solution and calcination condition. Individual nickel ferrite nanofibers synthesized by electrospinning were made up of nanograins of ~20 nm in diameter. In addition, the hysteresis observed in a magnetization measurement confirmed their ferromagnetism, supporting their potential use in magnetic devices. These results demonstrate that the use of iron (II) acetate as an iron precursor is another way to synthesize ferromagnetic nickel ferrite nanofibers.