Preparation and Characterization of Nanocopper Ferrite and Its Green Catalytic Activity in Alcohol Oxidation Reaction

A new type of magnetic material copper ferrite (CuFe2O4) is successfully manufactured through microwave combustion method. Starch has been tested as a single fuel in this combustion-based synthesis of copper ferrite by using different fuel compositions and equivalence ratios (fuel/oxidant). The formed copper ferrite is characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Magnetic properties of the prepared copper ferrite are analyzed by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Surface area is measured by the nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms. A detailed examination of the morphology of the material in various microwave method-catalyzed processes shows that they provide an optimum catalytic activity due to a combination of lower crystal size and higher activity.