Simple Sonofragmentation Approach for Synthesis of Ni-Fe Nanoalloy With Tunable Magnetization

Ni
_1-x
Fe
_x
(x = 0.20, 0.40, and 0.80) alloy nanoparticles (NPs) with tunable magnetization were synthesized by a simple sonofragmentation process, a facile one-step technique to produce NPs directly from bulk powders. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns show the crystalline structure of the alloy samples, and the sizes of the particles are 35 nm from the Scherrer equation. Scanning electron microscopy reveals the aggregation or cluster of spherical NPs with wide size distribution from 20 to 30 nm for all compositions of Ni-Fe nanoalloys. Magnetization versus field curves exhibit superparamagnetic behavior. The saturation magnetization for the Ni
_0.80
Fe
_0.20
, Ni
_0.60
Fe
_0.40
, and Ni
_0.20
Fe
_0.80
alloy NPs are 57, 66, and 105 emu g
^-1
, respectively, increasing with Fe content. Such tunability has potential technological applications.