Nanostructured ZnFe2O4: An Exotic Energy Material

Abstract

More people, more cities; the energy demand increases in consequence and much of that will rely on next-generation smart materials. Zn-ferrites (ZnFe2O4) are nonconventional ceramic materials on account of their unique properties, such as chemical and thermal stability and the reduced toxicity of Zn over other metals. Furthermore, the remarkable cation inversion behavior in nanostructured ZnFe2O4 extensively cast-off in the high-density magnetic data storage, 5G mobile communication, energy storage devices like Li-ion batteries, supercapacitors, and water splitting for hydrogen production, among others. Here, we review how aforesaid properties can be easily tuned in various ZnFe2O4 nanostructures depending on the choice, amount, and oxidation state of metal ions, the specific features of cation arrangement in the crystal lattice and the processing route used for the fabrication.

Multiple spintronic functionalities into single zinc-ferrous ferrite thin films

“…The canting mechanism is not certain and many possibilities such as the Dzyaloshinskii-Mariya interaction [33,34] due to a spin-orbit coupling are worthy of study. The presence of point defects such as oxygen vacancies, which would reduce more cations from Fe 3+ to Fe 2+ in Oh sites, or extended defects [2,35] such as antiphase boundaries [36,37], may also contribute to the measured reduction of the magnetization as compared with the theoretical value in nanocrystalline Zn x Fe 3−x O 4-δ thin films.…”

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

“…2 Metal ferrites have numerous applications in the fields of ferrofluid technology and spintronic devices, 3 microelectronic sensors, 4 desulfurization sorbent for coal gas, 5 electromagnetic shielding, 6 photocatalysis and dye degradation, 4 , 7 hyperthermia, 8 COVID-19 detection, 9 drug delivery, 10 in vitro destruction of cancer cells by nearinfrared (NIR) laser irradiation in the presence of a magnetic field, 11 water splitting in the presence of sunlight 12 and electromagnetic equipment in the radio-frequency region, as ZF not only has greater electrical resistivity, but its permeability is also frequency-dependent. 13,14 In ZnFe 2 O 4 , oxygen atoms form face-centered cubic (FCC) packing, while Fe and Zn occupy octahedral and tetrahedral sites, respectively. A unit cell of a spinel structure consists of a total of 64 sites contributed from eight FCC cells, out of which 56 sites are occupied and the remaining eight sites are vacant.…”

Pitch‐black surface stemming from self‐standing ZnFe2O4 nanowalls

“…Meanwhile, ZnFe 2 O 4 (franklinite or spinel zinc ferrite) is attracting increasing attention as a promising candidate material for water‐splitting light absorbers [ 12–14 ] and as electrodes for supercapacitors [ 8,15 ] and Li‐ion batteries, [ 16 ] owing to its semiconductor nature with a narrow band gap (∼2 eV), [ 17 ] earth abundancy, nontoxicity, and stability. For ZnFe 2 O 4 with nanostructured surfaces, the following have been reported: the synthesis of ZnFe 2 O 4 nanorods via hydrothermal methods to produce β–FeOOH nanorods, followed by high‐temperature quenching with a Zn‐precursor; [ 13,14 ] the production of ZnFe 2 O 4 nanoflakes via a biomediated rotational chemical bath deposition method; [ 15 ] the generation of ZnFe 2 O 4 nanowalls from Zn‐ and Fe‐ precursors [ 8 ] via a hydrothermal method.…”