Structural and Magnetic Properties of Ni Nanoparticles Embedded in Vinyl Polymer Nanocomposite Films

Ni nanoparticles layer of nominal thickness in the range of 5-40nm were deposited on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film by using the ion beam sputtering (IBS) technique. PVA films were made on a quartz substrate by the solution casting technique. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) results reveal Ni is present in a metallic form in the FCC phase. AFM shows that roughness increases with increase in thickness of Ni layer and corresponding MFM images of magnetic domains were recorded. Soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (SXAS) studies on the PVA/Ni nanocomposites films were recorded using synchrotron radiation. This study is used to study the electronic structure of the as-prepared nanocomposite films and reveals that Ni nanoparticles are present in their metallic form. Magnetic properties were measured using the magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) magnetometer and the films were found to be magnetically soft with higher value of coercivity at lower thickness of Ni nanoparticles layer. The results of magnetic studies are discussed in light of the microstructure and morphological features of PVA/Ni nanocomposite films. The PVA/Ni nanocomposites showed interesting anisotropic magnetic behavior; thus the investigative results may be useful for the development of futuristic flexible functional magnetic material system.