Obtaining of Ni0.65Zn0.35Fe2O4 /SiO2 nanocomposites by thermal decomposition of complex compounds embedded in silica matrix

This article presents the results of our investigation on the obtaining of Ni0.65Zn0.35Fe2O4 ferrite nanoparticles embedded in a SiO2 matrix using a modified sol-gel synthesis method, starting from tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), metal (Fe,Ni,Zn) nitrates and ethylene glycol (EG). This method consists in the formation of carboxylate type complexes, inside the silica matrix, used as forerunners for the ferrite/silica nanocomposites. We prepared gels with different compositions, in order to obtain, through a suitable thermal treatment, the nanocomposites (Ni0.65Zn0.35Fe2O4)x-(SiO2)100-x (where x=10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 mass%). The synthesized gels were studied by differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermogravimetry (TG) and FTIR spectroscopy.