Surface study of fine MgFe2O4 ferrite powder prepared by chemical methods

To study surface behaviors, MgFe2O4 ferrite materials having different grain sizes were synthesized by two different chemical methods, i.e., a polymerization method and a reverse coprecipitation method. The single phase of the cubic MgFe2O4 was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction method for both the precursors decomposed at 600–1000 °C except for a very small peak of Fe2O3 was detected for the samples calcined at 600 and 700 °C by the polymerization method. The crystal size and particle size increased with an increase in the sintering temperature using both methods. The conductance of the MgFe2O4 decreased when the atmosphere was changed from ambient air to air containing 10.0 ppm NO2. The conductance change, C = G(air)/G(10 ppm NO2), was reduced with an increase in the operating temperature. For the polymerization method, the maximum C-value was ca. 40 at 300 °C for the samples sintered at 900 °C. However, the samples sintered at 1000 °C showed a low conductance change in the 10 ppm NO2 gas, because the ratio of the O2 gas adsorption sites on the particle surface is smaller than those of the samples having a high C-value. The low Mg content on the surface affects the low ratio of the gas adsorption sites. For the reverse coprecipitation method, the particle size was smaller than that of the polymerization method. Although a stable conductance was obtained for the sample sintered at 900 and 1000 °C, its conductance change was less than that of the polymerization method.