The effect of fuel to nitrates ratio on the properties of FeCr2O4 nanopowders

•Single phase spinel FeCr2O4 nanopowders were formed without further heat treatment based on powder X-ray diffraction, FTIR and EDS studies.•The probable combustion mechanism with thermodynamic concepts involved in the formation of FeCr2O4 nanopowders were discussed.•The effect of different amount of fuel to metal nitrates ratio (F/N) on the self-combusted FeCr2O4 nanopowders was investigated.•It greatly affects the morphologies, different nanocrystallite sizes, and magnetic properties by using different combinations of F/N ratios.

The solution combustion of spinel type FeCr2O4 nanopowders via different ratios of fuel to stating metal nitrates was investigated. The synthesized FeCr2O4 nanopowders were deemed to be single phase spinel type material based on powder X-ray diffraction, FTIR and EDS studies. The properties of synthesized FeCr2O4 nanopowders such as morphology, porosity, elemental composition, crystallite size, strain and lattice deformations, magnetic moment, and coercivity were influenced by the amount of the fuel used in the combustion process. FeCr2O4 nanopowders with different morphologies, porosities, structural, and magnetic properties could be prepared in a single procedure on a hotplate magnetic stirrer without the need for high temperature furnaces.

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