Mechanism of oxygen releasing of copper ferrite in the formation of the corresponding oxygen-deficient compound

Abstract

Copper ferrite is a promising material for hydrogen production through thermochemical water splitting. In this work, the cation distribution of copper ferrite and the corresponding oxygen-deficient compound of spinel structure was analyzed based on the crystal structural chemistry theory. The mechanism of oxygen releasing of CuO, Fe2O3, CuFe2O4 and metal (M=Ni, Mn or Zn) doped copper ferrite in the process of temperature rising was investigated by differential thermal analysis-thermogravimetry (DTA-TG). By combining the theoretical analysis with experimental results, the mechanism of oxygen releasing of copper ferrite is proposed, which is different from that of other ferrites. For copper ferrite, the oxygen releasing caused by Cu(II)→Cu(I) plays a predominant role, while for other ferrites, the oxygen releasing resulting from Fe(III)·Fe(II) is dominant.