The synthesis and structure of nanocrystalline spinel ferrite produced by high-energy ball-milling method

The mechanochemical synthesis (synthesis induced by a high-energy ball-milling process) of zinc ferrite from zinc oxide and iron oxide powders at room temperature is presented. Nanocrystalline structure of the mechanosynthesized zinc ferrite with a large amount of strain and defects introduced during the mechanical treatment is characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and Mossbauer spectroscopy. Subsequent thermal treatment of the disordered mechanosynthesized zinc ferrite leads to its crystallization at temperatures, which are by 300 K lower than those at which the crystalline zinc ferrite is formed by a conventional thermal method commonly involving solid-state reactions.