Production and characterization of pure and doped copper ferrite nanoparticles

摘要

The effects of calcination temperature and doping with either MgO or Al_2O_3 (2 and 6 mol %) on solid-state reactions between CuO and Fe_2O_3 have been investigated using DSC, XRD, IR, SEM and TEM techniques. The mechanical mixing of known amounts of basic copper carbonate and ct-Fe_2O_3 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 ℃. The results obtained revealed that CuO underwent solid-solid interaction with Fe_2O_3 at temperatures starting from 800 ℃ producing nanocrystalline CuFe_2O_4. 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 Al_2O_3 towards the ferrite formation was attributed to an effective increase in the mobility of the various reacting cations. The activation energy of CuFe_2O_4 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 % Al_2O_3, respectively.