Composites of ZnFe2O4and GaFeO3: Structural, optical bandgap and morphology studies

Abstract

Herein, we throw light on the structural, optical and microstructural properties of 0.9ZFO + 0.1 GFO and 0.78ZFO + 0.22GFO composites materials. The materials were investigated for the crystal structure and desired composite formation using X-ray diffraction technique. For microstructural studies and compositional investigation, we employed reliable Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopic (FESEM) and energy dispersive analysis of X-ray (EDAX) techniques respectively. For Optical bandgap determination, we exploited UV-Vis spectral analysis as a tool. From XRD diffractogram, diffraction peaks corresponding to both the ZFO and GFO phase were witnessed. It was found that ZFO has acquired cubic structure and GFO has crystallized in trigonal phase. FESEM micrographs reveals higher grain size with no defined grain boundaries i.e. samples exhibit porous nature. EDAX spectra infers the constituents of the composite are present with absence of any trace of impurity. The bandgap was found to be 3.4 eV for 0.9ZFO + 0.1 GFO and 3.2eV for 0.78ZFO + 0.22GFO composite.