Synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline : advances in thermochemical water splitting

Nanostructured MnFe 2 O 4 was prepared by high-energy ball milling of a stoichiometric mixture of MnO and Fe 2 O 3 powders and characterized by XRD, TEM and TGA techniques. The ball milling process leads to strained nanocrystals with an average size of about 5 nm, agglomerated in sizes of about 100 nm. It was used with mechanically activated Na 2 CO 3 to produce hydrogen from water in the temperature range 973–1073 K. At 1023 K the mixture shows a hydrogen production five times higher than that obtained with manganese ferrite prepared by thermally activated solid-state reaction.