Synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline spinel zinc ferrite prepared by sol-gel auto-combustion technique

Sol–gel auto-combustion is a unique combination of the combustion and the chemical gelation processes. In this work, nanosize (d) powders with compositions of ZnFe2O4 were synthesized by sol–gel combustion method. The puffy, porous brown powders as-combusted was calcined at the temperature of 750–1000◦C for 4 h. These powders are characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Particle size and morphology of nanocrystalline were determined by XRD and SEM, respectively. The average particle size was estimated about 17 nm for calcined powders. Surface area for zinc ferrite synthesized by this method is 36 m2/g.