Production and characterization of pure and doped copper ferrite nanoparticles

The effects of calcination temperature and doping with either MgO or Al2O3 (2 and 6 mol %) on solid-state reactions between CuO and Fe2O3 have been investigated using DSC, XRD, IR, SEM and TEM techniques. The mechanical mixing of known amounts of basic copper carbonate and α-Fe2O3 were employed, however magnesium and aluminum were added as magnesium and aluminum nitrates. Pure and doped mixed solids were subjected to heat treatment at 800–1000 °C.The results obtained revealed that CuO underwent solid–solid interaction with Fe2O3 at temperatures starting from 800 °C producing nanocrystalline CuFe2O4. The degree of propagation of this reaction increases progressively by increasing both the calcination temperature and the amounts of dopant added. The promotion effect of MgO and Al2O3 towards the ferrite formation was attributed to an effective increase in the mobility of the various reacting cations. The activation energy of CuFe2O4 formation was evaluated to be 150, 100, and 115 kJ mol−1 for pure mixed solids and those doped with 6 mol % MgO and 6 mol % Al2O3, respectively.