Mixture of fuels for solution combustion synthesis of porous Fe3O4 powders

The solution combustion synthesis of porous magnetite (Fe3O4) powders by a mixture of glycine and urea fuels was investigated concerning the thermodynamic aspects and powder characteristics. The adiabatic combustion temperature and combusted species were thermodynamically calculated as a function of the fuel to oxidant molar ratio (ϕ). The combustion behavior, phase evolution, porous structure and magnetic properties were characterized by thermal analysis, X-ray diffractometry, N2 adsorption-desorption, electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry techniques. Nearly single phase Fe3O4 powders were synthesized by the mixture of fuels at ϕ values of 0.75 and 1. The as-combusted Fe3O4 powders at ϕ = 1 exhibited porous structure with the specific surface area of 83.4 m2/g. The highest saturation magnetization of 75.5 emu/g and the lowest coercivity of 84 Oe were achieved at ϕ = 1, due to the high purity and large crystallite size, inducing from the highest adiabatic combustion temperature.