Electrochemical Performance of Nanocrystalline Zinc Ferrite Films Synthesized Using Electrodeposition

Abstract

Nanocrystalline spinel zinc ferrite ZnFe2O4 thin film has been studied and synthesized via the electrodeposition-anodization process. Electrodeposited ZnFe2 alloys were obtained from aqueous sulphate bath. The resulted alloys were electrochemically oxidized in strong alkaline solution (1 M KOH) at room temperature to the analogous hydroxides. The electroanodized ZnFe2 alloy film was annealed in air at 400 °C for 2 h to get the required zinc ferrite. The electrochemical factors controlling of the electrodeposition of ZnFe2 alloys such as the bath temperature, agitation, the current density were studied and optimized. The crystal structure, crystal size and microstructure of the produced ferrites were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The deposited film was mainly composed of ZnFe2O4 based on XRD studies. The produced film had a spinel structure and the crystallite size was 4.9 nm. SEM micrograph of the resulted zinc ferrite particles shows compact crystallites shapes and agglomerated chains with smallest semicircular particles like morphology.