Low temperature sol-gel synthesis of copper zinc ferrite for hydrogen catalytic hydrolysis of sodium borohydride

The spinal ferrites are regarded as promising for renewable energy application like hydrogen production from sodium borohydride (NaBH4) since they have superior catalytic activity. The current work considers the preparation of Cu1-xZnxFe2O4 (x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8) nanoparticles via the low temperature sol-gel method. The cubic crystal structure of nanoparticles was identified by XRD spectra analysis. The average crystal size was provided concerning the full width at half maximum to be 10.0 nm according to Scherer formula. FTIR spectra of synthesized ferrite nanoparticles showed the vibrational bands of Cu1-xZnxFe2O4. The images showed a cross-linked porous surface morphology. The TEM images of the CuFe2O4 and Cu0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4 samples showed spherical nanoparticles with an average size of 10 nm. The surface area BET at 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 content of zinc were 95, 66, 46, 49 and 41 m2/g. The values of direct band gaps for nanocrystalline Cu1-xZnxFe2O3 were 52.25, 2.0, 2.16, 1.9 and 2.11 eV at x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8. The hydrogen catalytic effect of Cu1-xZnxFe2O4 nanoparticles is accelerated, especially the sample CuFe2O4. The nanoparticles show high generation rates but the sample CuFe2O4 is the highest catalytic material (1810 mL/gmin).