Combustion synthesis of fine particle Zn–Ni ferrichromite by sol–gel method and their electrical properties

Oxides with the spinel structure are some of the most studied compounds in solid-state science due to their wide range of applications. In this, the system Zn1−xNixFeCrO4 was prepared by sol–gel auto-combustion method. The formation of spinel phase was identified using X-ray diffraction technique. All the compounds exhibited cubic spinel symmetry and lattice constant shows the decreasing trend with substitution of nickel. The morphology and size of the particles were studied by scanning electron microscope while an elemental composition of the metals in system is found to be equal to the relative compositions of the metals used for synthesis by stoichiometric calculations. Electrical properties of the system investigated for the compounds in the form of pellets indicate the semi-conducting nature of all the spinels which show the n to p-type conduction with nickel content.

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