Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nickel Substituted Cobalt Ferrite@functionalized Multi-walled Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposite: Structural and Magnetic Characterization

Abstract

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were synthesized by chemical vapour deposition method and functionalized successfully by acid reflux procedure. Functionalized multi-wall carbon nanotubes (FMWCNTs) were decorated with crystalline nickel doped cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (CNF NPs) by in-situ hydrothermal method to form CNF/FMWCNT nanocomposite. The nanocomposites with different weight ratio were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), Fourier-transform infrared spectra analyzer (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The X-ray diffraction patterns revealed the formation of cubic phase spinel structure of CNF with the optimized 1:1 weight ratio composite’s crystallite size of 10.04 nm. XRD also showed the adhesion of between ferrite and FMWCNTs in composite. FTIR was used to confirm the functionalization of MWCNT and the presence of other functional groups in CNF/FMWCNT nanocomposite. The study of Raman spectrum provides useful information about the quality of MWCNT and its degree of functionalization as well as the quality of nanocomposites. The thermal stability of the nanocomposite was studied using TGA analysis. VSM experiment showed moderate magnetic properties of the synthesized nanocomposites. This nanocomposite could be useful for water treatment, photo-catalysis applications as well as MRI contrast reagent.

• Supervision