Effect of Chelating Agent on Morphology and Phase Evolution of Spinel Nanoparticles Synthesized via Sol-Gel Method

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of glycyrol (tri-dentate, GLY) and ethylenediamine (double- dentate clay, en) chelating agents on phase and morphology changes of spinel nanoparticles synthesized by sol-gel method. Characterization of samples was performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX). The results showed that both samples synthesized with GLY and en contain cubic spinel phase. The sample synthesized with ethylenediamine has a pyramidal morphology with particle size in the range of 20-25 nm whereas the specimen prepared with glycerol is spherical with particle size in the range of 20-25 nm. Finally, suggested mechanism for morphological changes of spniel nanoparticles was discussed.