Magnetic Properties of Layered Hexagonal Cobalt Hydroxide and Nickel Hydroxide Nanoparticles

Abstract

Undoped and Al doped cobalt hydroxide and nickel hydroxide nanoparticles are synthesized by chemical methods. These materials exist in alpha and beta phases having layered hexagonal structures. Both phases mainly differ in value of lattice parameter c. Structural characterization of samples is done using XRD and FTIR. Thermal stability of samples is studied using TGA. Magnetization measurements are performed to study and compare magnetic behavior of samples using VSM. The alpha phase is found to be ferromagnetic because ionic spins in hexagonal layers align themselves along the c-axis. On other hand, the beta phase is found to be overall antiferromagnetic because spins in neighboring layers are aligned opposite to each other.