Preparation and electrical properties of nanostructured spinel ZnCr2O4 by combustion route

Semiconductive nanometer-sized ZnCr2O4 material synthesized by a solution combustion method using inorganic reagents as Zn(NO3)3·6H2O, Cr(NO3)3·6H2O, and glycine as a fuel. This process is a convenient, environment friendly, inexpensive and efficient for the preparation of ZnCr2O4 nanomaterial. The synthesized material is characterized by thermo gravimetric differential analysis, X-ray diffraction studied, energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis studies and transmission electron microscopy techniques. The increase in conductivity with increasing temperature could be attributed to negative temperature coefficient of resistance and semiconducting nature of ZnCr2O4.