Microwave‐Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nanophase Ferrites

Abstract

This paper reports the synthesis of technologically important ferrites such as ZnFe 2 O 4 , NiFe 2 O 4 , MnFe 2 O 4 , and CoFe 2 O 4 by using novel microwave‐hydrothermal processing. Nanophase ferrites with high surface areas, in the range of 72‐247m 2 /g, have been synthesized in a matter of a few minutes at temperatures as low as 164°C. The rapid synthesis of nanophase ferrites via an acceleration of reaction rates under microwave‐hydrothermal conditions is expected to lead to energy savings.