Impact of sol-gel and co-precipitation synthesis methods on structural properties of lithium ferrite

Abstract

Abstract In the present study, lithium ferrite is synthesized by both sol-gel and chemical coprecipitation methods and then annealed at 700°C for 2 hrs. The variation in the phase transition and weight loss (%) is clearly evident from the thermo-gravimetric analysis for the lithium ferrite prepared using two different synthesis routes indicating the formation of structural changes. The lattice parameter (a), average crystallite size (D) are calculated using the cubic phase formula and Debye-Sherrer’s equation respectively and the values are in good agreement with literature. Higher value of saturation magnetization is observed in the case of lithium ferrite synthesized by sol-gel method when compared with co-precipitation method highlights the importance of phase formation.