Mössbauer spectroscopy study of the synthesis of SnFe2O4 by high energy ball milling (HEBM) of SnO and α-Fe2O3

The formation of single phase nanoparticles of spinel structured ferrite, SnFe2O4, by mechanochemical syntheses using HEBM of stoichiometric amounts of solid SnO and α-Fe2O3 with acetone as surfactant was achieved progressively as function of ball milling time. Single phase SnFe2O4 formation commenced from five hours of continuous ball milling, and reached completion after 22 hours, thereby yielding a material with a lattice parameter of 8.543 A, and particle size of 10.91 nm. The coercivity was 4.44 mT, magnetic saturation value of 17.75 Am2/kg, and remanent magnetizations of 1.50 Am2/kg, correspondingly. The nanosized particles exhibited superparamagnetic behavior phenomenon based on Mossbauer spectroscopy measurements. The kinetic analyses based on the modified Kissinger method yielded four characteristic stages during the thermal evolution of the 22 hours milled state with activation energies of 0.23 kJ/mol, 2.52 kJ/mol, 0.024 kJ/mol, and 1.57 kJ/mol respectively.