FTIR and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy studies of the wet chemical (WC) route synthesized nano-structure CoFe2O4 from CoCl2 and FeCl3

Nano-structure CoFe2O4 has been fabricated by wet chemical route using CoCl2 and FeCl3 as simple precursors. The prepared nano-structure samples was calcined at 600 degrees C and characterized by fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed the presence of the spinel phases with average crystallite sizes of 47 nm. Field emission scanning electron microscopy investigations showed spherical morphology of nanoparticles with average particle size of 46 nm. The FTIR spectra of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles showed absorption bands at about 594 cm(-1) and 401 cm-1 due to the stretching vibrations of Co-O and Fe-O respectively. Investigation of the optical properties of the produced nano-structure CoFe2O4 confirmed its semiconducting properties by revealing two optical band gaps at 1.4 and 2.0 eV. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.