Investigation of the Structural and Optical Properties of Zinc Ferrite Nanoparticles Synthesized via a Green Route

Abstract

We report herein the synthesis of ZnFe 2 O 4 (ZF) nanoparticles via a simple and eco-friendly green route using lemon juice as a reducing agent and fuel. The effect of different calcination temperatures on the particle size and bandgap of grown ZF nanoparticles was investigated. The structural, morphological and optical properties of the synthesized nanoparticles were evaluated using synchrotron x-ray diffraction (S-XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis-DRS), respectively. S-XRD confirmed a spinel F-d3m phase in all four samples calcined at 350°C, 550°C, 750°C and 1000°C. The crystallite size calculated from the Debye–Scherrer equation showed an increase from 14 nm to 20 nm with the increase in calcination temperature. Williamson–Hall (W-H) analysis revealed an increase in the particle size from 16 nm to 21 nm and a decrease in the lattice microstrain from 0.913 × 10 −3 to 0.154 × 10 −4 with the increase in calcination temperature. The optical bandgap of the ZF nanoparticles obtained from UV-Vis-DRS decreased from 2.265 eV to 2.225 eV with the increase in calcination temperature. The ZF nanoparticles with tunable particle size, lattice microstrain and optical bandgap have potential application in ferrofluid, electromagnetic shielding, photocatalysis, hyperthermia, dye degradation and other areas. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11664-022-09813-2.

Room temperature operated composite SnS–ZnS heterojunction based sensor for sub-ppm ethanol detection

“…The obtained peaks are in accordance with the orthorhombic structure of SnS (JCPDS 39-0354) [26] and the zinc blend structure (JCPDS 65-0309) of ZnS [27]. Furthermore, Debye-Scherrer's formula (equation ( 2)) has been used to calculate the crystallite size of the prepared sample [17]. The formula used is given as:…”

“…Zhang et al synthesized the Ag decorated reduced graphene oxide composite and have shown that the catalytic effect of Ag helps in trapping the O 2− molecules which further enhances the sensitivity [16]. Behzadi et al have shown the effect of Pd nanoparticles in enhancing the sensing response in terms of response and recovery times and its comparison with Ni nanoparticle based sensor [17][18][19]. Lee et al have shown the optimization of noble metal nano particles amount on the surface of nanowires provides the optimal sensing performance [20].…”

Autocombustion Route Derived Zinc Ferrite Nanoparticles as Chemiresistive Sensor for Detection of Alcohol Vapors

“…The XRD peak intensity for the higher crystalline calcined particles is more as compared to dried one. The inset of Figure 1(b) shows the peak shift towards a larger angle corresponding to increased crystallite size for calcined particles [27] . The crystallite sizes for dried and calcined ZFO are calculated to be 15 and 30 nm respectively.…”

“…The inset of Figure 1(b) shows the peak shift towards a larger angle corresponding to increased crystallite size for calcined particles. [27] The crystallite sizes for dried and calcined ZFO are calculated to be 15 and 30 nm respectively. The estimation of inter-planar distance, lattice parameter, crystallite size, and lattice density is briefly described in supplementary information.…”

Physical Property Variation of Ferrite Nanoparticles under Heavy Ion Irradiation

“…This figure also depicts that Yafet-Kittel (Y-K )canting angle and squareness (Mr/Msat) is influenced by the size of nanoparticles. In the same way, the optical behavior of ferrites is also affected by the crystallite size (Singh et al, 2010c;Jogi et al, 2022;Refat et al, 2022). Various ferrite nanoparticle exhibits absorbance which depends on the size of the ferrite nanoparticle.…”