Preparation and characterization of NiO, Fe(2)O(3), Ni(0(.(0(4Zn(0(.(9(6O and Fe(0(.(0(3Zn(0(.(9(7O nanoparticles

Nickel oxide (NiO), iron (III) oxide (Fe(2)O(3)), and mixed oxide (Ni(0(.(0(4Zn(0(.(9(6O and Fe(0(.(0(3Zn(0(.(9(7O) nanoparticles were synthesized by modified sol-gel method. The nanoparticle structural and morphological properties were investigated by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Mossbauer spectroscopy. The mixed oxides were characterized by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The oxide precursor powders were analyzed by thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The average sizes of the obtained NiO and Ni(0(.(0(4Zn(0(.(9(6O nanocrystallites were evaluated by X-ray line broadening using Scherrer's equation and were found to be 36 and 23nm, respectively. Fe(2)O(3) and Fe(0(.(0(3Zn(0(.(9(7O nanoparticles presented similar sizes, around 19nm. EDX spectroscopy indicated that the calculated compositions of the mixed oxides were nearly consistent with their estimated molar ratios.