Sol-gel Synthesis of Mn-substituted Copper Ferrite Nano Particles as Anode for Lithium Ion Batteries

Abstract

Mn substituted copper ferrites (Mn_xCu_1-xFe₂O₄, x = 0, 0.33, 0.67, 1.00) have been synthesized from metal nitrates and citric acid by sol-gel method (chemical process). This study aims to know the effects of Mn substitution on structural, magnetic, and electrochemical properties of copper ferrites. For characterizing the prepared ferrites, different techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were used. In addition, vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) is used to investigate the magnetic properties such as saturation magnetization (Ms), residual magnetism (Mr) and coercive force (Hc). A single-phase spinal structure was confirmed by XRD and lattice parameter was increased from 8.36 Å to 8.52 Å with increasing Mn contents. Micrographs of SEM shows that nanoparticles are agglomerated and non-uniform in size. The FTIR analysis shows that theses absorption band about 1422 cm^-1 to 1434 cm^-1 was attributed octahedral B-site. For pure copper ferrite, band is shifted towards higher frequency by manganese content. The results from CV showed that the increasing in scan rate and specific capacitance decreases due to increase in the area loop which clearly means that the investigated samples are best for storage devices such as lithium ion batteries (LIBs).