ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

CoFe_2−xCr_xO₄ ferrites: synthesis, characterization and their catalytic activity

Ioana Mindru, Dana Gingasu, Lucian Diamandescu, Luminita Patron, Gabriela Marinescu, Daniela C. Culita, Jose Maria Calderon-Moreno, Silviu Preda, Ovidiu Oprea, and Viorica Parvulescu

Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania

E-mail: d_gingasu@yahoo.com

Abstract: Chromium substituted cobalt ferrites CoFe_2−xCr_xO₄ (x = 0; 1; 1.5) were synthesized through a soft chemistry method—the gluconate precursor route. The gluconate precursors were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (IR), ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy and thermal analysis. The spinel oxide powders were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Mössbauer spectroscopy and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller N₂ adsorption–desorption analyses. XRD indicated the formation of the spinel-type phase with good crystallinity. The mean crystalline domains size decreased from 23.8 to 17.8 nm with the increase in the chromium content. SEM revealed faceted particles for which the particle sizes varied significantly with the chromium content. The chromium substituted cobalt ferrites were found to have high catalytic performance.

Keywords: Chemical synthesis ; Chromium substituted cobalt ferrites ; Scanning electron microscopy ; Mössbauer spectroscopy ; Catalytic activity 

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-018-0553-0

Chemical Papers 72 (12) 3203–3213 (2018)