Mechanochemical Synthesis of ZnFe2O4 Powders from Zinc and Magnetite ☆

Mechanochemical synthesis of zinc ferrite ZnFe2O4 from a powder mixture of zinc and magnetite at room temperature using a planetary ball mill was investigated. The reaction between Zn and Fe3O4 is converted to ZnFe2O4 completely after 20 h of milling. X-ray powder diffractometry was used to determine phases of as milled powders after different milling time. The crystallite size and the lattice constants of ZnFe2O4 milled for 40 h were obtained by Scherrer and Nelson – Riley methods, respectively. The microstructure of mixture powders were studied by using scanning electron microscopy