Hydrothermal Synthesis of Carbon Nanotube/Nickel Ferrite Nanocomposites

Abstract

We report a simple hydrothermal synthesis of carbon nanotube/nickel ferrite (CNT/NiFe₂O₄) nanocomposites. The CNTs used in this work were pretreated with nitric acid. The evolution of the synthesis of the CNT/NiFe₂O₄ nanocomposites was studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The results suggest that NiFe₂O₄ nanoparticles were synthesized in situ on the CNT surface. Vibrating-sample magnetometer measurements showed that the CNT/NiFe₂O₄ nanocomposites exhibit typical soft ferromagnetic behavior with saturation magnetization (Ms) of about 24 emu/g.