Sol–gel combustion synthesis of magnetic MnFe2O4 oxide and FeNi alloy: product dependence on the reduction ability

Based on the sol–gel combustion method, stoichiometric Fe3+, Mn2+, Ni2+ ions and citric acid were chosen as the initial reactants for the preparation of magnetic particles. Due to the different reduction ability of metal ions, completely different magnetic products (MnFe2O4 oxide and FeNi alloy) were obtained by heating the flakes at 600 °C under nitrogen atmosphere. MnFe2O4 particles exhibit superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature, and martensitic phase transformation is observed magnetically at 125 K for FeNi alloy particles.