Effect of preparation conditions on Nickel Zinc Ferrite nanoparticles: A comparison between sol-gel auto combustion and co-precipitation methods

The experimental conditions used in the preparation of nano crystalline mixed ferrite materials play an important role in the particle size of the product. In the present work a comparison is made on sol-gel auto combustion methods and co-precipitation methods by preparing Nickel Zinc Ferrite (Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4) nano particles. The prepared ferrite samples were calcined at different temperatures and characterized by using standard methods. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated the formation of single phase ferrite nanoparticles for samples calcined at 500 °C. The lattice parameter range of 8.32-8.49 Å confirmed the cubic spinel structure. Average crystallite size estimated from X-ray diffractogram was found to be between 17 and 40 nm. The IR spectra showed two main absorption bands, the high frequency band ν1 around 600 cm−1 and the low frequency band ν2 around 400 cm−1 arising from tetrahedral (A) and octahedral (B) interstitial sites in the spinel lattice. TEM pictures showed particles in the nanometric range confirming the XRD data. The studies revealed that the sol-gel auto combustion method was superior to the co-precipitation method for producing single phase nano particles with smaller crystallite size.