Microwave‐Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nanophase Ferrites

Abstract
This paper reports the synthesis of technologically important ferrites such as ZnFe2O4, NiFe2O4, MnFe2O4, and CoFe2O4 by using novel microwave‐hydrothermal processing. Nanophase ferrites with high surface areas, in the range of 72‐247m2/g, have been synthesized in a matter of a few minutes at temperatures as low as 164°C. The rapid synthesis of nanophase ferrites via an acceleration of reaction rates under microwave‐hydrothermal conditions is expected to lead to energy savings.