Al-substituted zinc spinel ferrite nanoparticles: Preparation and evaluation of structural, electrical, magnetic and photocatalytic properties. Issue 9 (15th June 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gul, Simab; Yousuf, Muhammad Asif; Anwar, Asima; Warsi, Muhammad Farooq; Agboola, Philips O.; Shakir, Imran; Shahid, Muhammad
• Is Part Of: Ceramics international. Volume 46:Issue 9(2020)
• Page Start: 14195
• Page End: 14205
• Publication Date: 2020-06-15
• Subjects: Spinel zinc ferrite -- Al3+ -- XRD -- Electrical -- Magnetic -- Photocatalysis; Ceramics -- Periodicals; Céramique industrielle -- Périodiques; Ceramics; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 666
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2020.02.228
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0272-8842

Abstract

Abstract: In this research paper, we have reported the thermal, structural, magnetic and optical properties of unsubstituted and aluminum substituted zinc ferrite nanoparticles. These substituted and unsubstituted ferrite nanoparticles were prepared by cost effective co-precipitation method. The co-precipitated unannealed nanoparticles of the typical sample were subjected to thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) to probe the annealing temperature. The X-rays diffraction (XRD) technique was used for the determination of structural parameters. XRD patterns of all compositions of Alx ZnFe2-x O4 nanoparticles confirmed the FCC structure of these spinel ferrite nanoparticles. Besides the main crystal structure determination, many other lattice parameters and their variations with respect to increased Al 3+ contents in ZnFe2 O4 were also calculated from XRD data and have been discussed in detail in this article. The morphology of the synthesized materials has been studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and average particles size found < 100 nm. The variation in electrical and magnetic parameters with increased Al 3+ contents was studied in detail. The analysis of magnetic properties concluded that the prepared nanoparticles have good magnetic properties. At the end the optical studies of the nanoparticles proved that these spinel ferrites also have photocatalytic applications. The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue in the presence of these samples has been studied and discussed. The ferrites particles could be separated from contaminated water simply by magnetic bars. Therefore these particles can be used and recycled easily for photocatalytic applications. The aim of work was to study the structural, electrical, magnetic and catalytic behavior of the material.