Salt-assisted solution combustion synthesis of nanostructured ZnFe2O4-ZnS powders

In this work, ZnFe2O4-ZnS powders were synthesized by a novel salt-assisted solution combustion procedure using thiourea as a simultaneous source of fuel and sulfur. Prepared ZnFe2O4-ZnS powders were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) techniques. Results showed that nanostructured ZnFe2O4-ZnS could be synthesized in a one-step without any requirement to post heat treatment. Synthesized ZnFe2O4-ZnS powders are superparamagnetic with magnetization value of 27 emu/g at field's intensity of 10 kOe. Synthesized nanostructure powders are mesoporous with the specific surface area of 19.0 m(2)/g, the total pore volume of 0.132 cm(3)/g and the mean pore diameter of 27.7 nm. Finally, possible reaction during synthesis process and the role of the thiourea was proposed.