Rapid Bio-Assisted Synthesis and Magnetic Behavior of Zinc Oxide/Carbon Nanoparticles

Abstract

The biomimetic synthesis of a ZnO/C nanocomposite has been achieved using the egg white-assisted self-combustion method. The characterization of this composite has been carried out using different techniques, such as XRD, FTIR, Raman, SEM/EDS and TEM. A comparative study was conducted between ZnO in the form of this composite and pristine ZnO, which was prepared via the same procedures but without the egg white. The resulting ZnO had a hexagonal structure, similar to wurtzite, with a P63mc space group. When this egg white method was used to produce a ZnO-based material, a ZnO/C nanocomposite was developed, and the ZnO’s crystallite size was significantly decreased. The structural properties—including the unit cell volume, strain, atom displacement and dislocation density—of this ZnO crystal are increased as a result of the presence of a C atom. On the other hand, the length of the Zn–O bond is reduced by the presence of the C atom. Results derived from a combination of Raman, FTIR, and EDS demonstrate that the carbonaceous layers and ZnO nanoparticles were integrated with a close interfacial contact. The preparation method used here brought about obvious changes in the morphological and magnetic behaviors of the as-prepared materials. Using a small amount of egg white resulted in the transformation of the particle’s shape from a hexagonal cone-type structure to an ellipsoidal structure. Based on an analysis of diffuse reflectance, the ZnO and ZnO/C band gap values were revealed using UV–VIS spectra. ZnO and ZnO/C exhibit band gap energies of 3.09 and 2.60 eV, respectively. A phase transition from weakly ferromagnetic to completely diamagnetic magnetic was discovered.

Biosynthesis Effect of Egg White on Formation and Characteristics of NiO/NiCo2O4 Nanocomposites

“…A broad band at 1613.9 cm −1 , which indicates the presence of a hydroxyl group on the surface of the metal ions, indicates O-H bond stretching vibrations. The band at 3343.4 cm −1 may possibly be connected to a common band a ributed to the bending manner of the absorbed water as moisture, which disappears due to heating at 700 °C, as shown in the S2 sample [21].…”

“…The numerous vibrational modes of the carbon groups, on the other hand, are responsible for the bands at 1102.3 and 1351.8 cm −1 . These bands are attributed to the C-O, C-OH, and/or C-H bonds' stretching vibrations [21]. A broad band at 1613.9 cm −1 , which indicates the presence of a hydroxyl group on the surface of the metal ions, indicates O-H bond stretching vibrations.…”

“…High purity, low grain size, a superior large specific surface area, and superior electrical conductivity can only be achieved through homogenous multicomponent metal oxide materials prepared using minimal-cost, lower-energy techniques. Even though there are other ways to create spinel NiCo 2 O 4 , the auto-combustion strategy is now regarded as one of the most attractive synthesis methods, due to its inherent advantages, which include homogenous heat transmission and an incredibly quick heating duration [20,21]. Utilizing combustion technology, rapid heating can be accomplished through efficient energy transmission.…”

“…Table2lists the other structural characteristics of the NiCo 2 O 4 as it was produced. Depending on the XRD results, other structural properties of the NiCo 2 O 4 NPs were calculated, including the distance between the magnetic ions (L A and L B ), the ionic radii (r A , r B ), and the bond lengths (A-O and B-O) on tetrahedral (A) and octahedral (B) sites[20][21][22][23]. As shown in Table2, by heating the virgin sample at 700 • C, the values of L A , L B , r A , r B , A-O, and B-O increase.…”

Biosynthesis, Optical and Magnetic Properties of Fe-Doped ZnO/C Nanoparticles

“…Moreover, this method uses the least amount of energy, while avoiding the many and complex steps of many other chemical and physical methods. In fact, the egg white-mediated green synthesis also involves the isothermal evaporation of the foam that results from the addition of precursors of egg white, which results in monodisperse and tightly regulated particle size with lower production costs [27]. Indeed, due to its complete composition of the amino acid sequences' regular structural components scattered among randomly extended chain segments, egg white can be pleated into spherical forms with sizes ranging from few to many nanometers [28].…”