TITLE:
The Role of CeO2-Doping of Fe2O3/Co3O4 System on Its Structural Characteristics
AUTHORS:
Neven A. Hassan, Gehan A. Fagal, Abdelrahman A. Badawy, Gamil A. El-Shobaky
KEYWORDS:
Cobalt Ferrite; CeO2-Dopant; HRTEM; Coprecipitation
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Applied Sciences,
Vol.3 No.1,
March
29,
2013
ABSTRACT: The role of ceria doping (0.75 - 3 mol%) on solid-solid interactions between ferric and cobaltic oxides was investigated. The investigated solids were characterized by TGA, DTA, XRD and HRTEM. The results revealed that ceria much enhanced the formation of nanosized CoFe2O4 (10 - 30 nm). The stimulation effect of ceria towards cobalt ferrite formation was evidenced from analysis of DTA and XRD investigations. In fact, the area of endothermic peak located at 575℃- 680℃ relative to solid-solid interaction between ferric and cobaltic oxide increased by increasing the dopant concentration. This treatment decreased the activation energy of formation of the produced ferrite from 33 - 9.2 kJ/mol upon doping with 3 mol% CeO2. HRTEM analysis revealed the formation of homogenous nanosized CoFe2O4. The formation effect of ceria dopant towards the formation of CoFe2O4 has been tentatively attributed to an effective increase in the mobility of the reacting cations.