A Study on Structural, Optical, and Magnetic Properties of ZnO/ZnFe2O4 Composite

In this research, ZnO/ ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites with a weight ratio (1:1) were made using hydrothermal method and annealing temperatures of 600°C and 700°C. Structural, optical, and magnetic properties of the synthesized powders were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), ultraviolet-visible spectrometer, and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The results obtained from the XRD diffraction patterns confirmed the formation of the mixed phases, hexagonal zinc oxide and cubic spinel phases of pure zinc ferrite. FESEM images showed that with the increase of annealing temperature, the samples have a cohesive and agglomerated structure. The measurement of the absorption spectra of the synthesized samples showed that the absorption in the visible region increases with increase in annealing temperature. The optical band gap value for the ZnO/ZnFe2O4 composites were in the range of 2.1-2.2 eV which is between the band gap values of ZnO (3.37 eV) and zinc ferrite (1.8 eV). The hysteresis loops measured with VSM indicated a soft and weak ferromagnetic magnetic behavior for both samples.