Synthesis of pure and manganese-, nickel-, and zinc-doped ferrite particles in water-in-oil microemulsions

In recent years, the materials research focuses toward synthesis of finer a nd finer microstructural features. The unique properties of nanosized parti cles outweigh their higher production costs. Precipitation in microemulsion is one technique, which promises to produce small particles of controlled size and morphology at reasonable cost. The present study demonstrates the synthesis of nanocrystalline alpha -Fe2O3(hematite), Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4, and N i0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 particles in a reverse micellar microemulsion system [water- iso-octane-AOT (sodium di-2ethylhexylsulfosuccinate)]. The synthesis of alp ha -Fe2O3 is performed to obtain baseline data for the synthesis of Mn0.5Zn 0.5Fe2O4 and Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 in the microemulsion system. Nanosized, spheri cal alpha -Fe2O3, Ni-Zn ferrite, and Mn-Zn ferrite particles (20-80 nm) wit h very narrow particle size distribution are synthesized. Crystallization o f the particles is obtained at temperatures as low as 300 degreesC.