LPG-sensing characteristics of nanocrystalline ZnFe2O4 synthesized by co-precipitation method

In the present work, microwave-assisted co-precipitation route was used for synthesis of nano crystalline zinc ferrite for LPG sensing and results were compared with the zinc ferrites prepared by conventional co-precipitation route. For both the synthesis strict uniformity was maintained, while using precursors and conditions of reaction, except mode of heating was changed. Particles size of both samples were confirmed by TEM and found to be in the range of 2–4 nm. The SEM images of microwave proceed ZnFe2O4 (MS-ZnFe2O4) was found to be highly uniform as compared to conventionally proceed sample (CS-ZnFe2O4). XRD data confirmed the presence of single phase face centered cubic structure for both the samples. Functional group was analyzed by FT-IR. Thick films of the samples were made by screen printing and were used for LPG sensing measurement. This study concluded that microwave-assisted synthesis route has reduced the time of reaction by around 23 hr for synthesis of nanocrystalline zinc-ferrites of 2–4 ...