Abstract:
Nanohybrids of rGO/ZnFe2O4 with increasing loadings of GO for 0.0 %, 10%, 20%
and 30 % with nomenclatures X0, X1,X2 and X3 were prepared by a novel one-step
thermochemical route. In our current research, GO was synthesized via Improved
Hummer method. Thermochemical route was adopted for the reduction of GO and
synthesis of zinc ferrite nano particles onto rGO sheets. X-Ray Powder Diffraction
(XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron
Microscopy (SEM), Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), Impedance Analyzer and
Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) were utilized to effectively investigate the synthesized
nano-hybrid. The obtained XRD patterns verified the formation of pure cubic single
phase of rGO/ZnFe2O4 nanohybrid. The crystallite size for each composition was in
complete agreement with the results obtained from SEM. While, SEM results
showed that ferrite nanoparticles were uniformly adhered onto rGO sheets. The
dielectric and charge storage properties were found to be enhanced with increased
loadings of GO. TGA for X3 showed no weight loss until 778 °C, indicate its thermal
stability. The dielectric constant ( / ) was enhanced from 423 for pure zinc ferrites
to 2.04×10
4
for 30% GO loading at 100 Hz. The dielectric and tangent losses also
increased from 2.04×10
4
, 4.56 for X0 to 1.20×10
5
, 5.86 at 100 Hz for X3
respectively.. The CV result showed increased area under the IV curve for X3 that
reflect the enhanced charge storage capacity. Thermochemical method showed
potential dielectric applications at high temperature. The optimum parameters and
compositions need to be exploited for scalable production via this method due to its
high yield benefit.
