Preparation of ferrite MFe2O4 (M = Co, Ni) ribbons with nanoporous structure and their magnetic properties

Spinel ferrite, MFe2O4 (M = Co, Ni), ribbons with nanoporous structure were prepared by electrospinning combined with sol-gel technology. The ribbons were formed through the agglomeration of magnetic nanoparticles with PVP as the structure directing template. The length of the polycrystalline ribbons can reach millimeters, and the width of the ribbons can be tuned from several micrometers to several hundred nanometers by changing the concentration of precursor. The nanoporous structure was formed during the decomposition of PVP and inorganic salts. The ribbons exhibited weak saturation magnetizations and low coercivities at room temperature, but at low temperature, saturation magnetizations and coercivities increased a lot, especially for CoFe2O4 ribbons, reaching 72 emu/g and 1.45 T at 2 k, respectively. These novel magnetic ribbons can potentially be used in micro/nano electronic devices, gas-sensors, and catalysts.