Analysis and evaluation of structural properties of Co3O4 microparticles obtained at low temperature

Abstract

Abstract In the present research, the synthesis of cobalt oxide Co3O4 was carried out using the sol-gel technique with subsequent heat treatment at 225 and 235 °C. The final product obtained was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), showing a pure crystalline phase of Co3O4, cell parameters a=b=c=8.071 Å, and a volume of 525.7 Å3. The particle size was between 2.37 and 2.77 µm, which indicated that structural transformations from Co to Co3O4 induced an increase in the particle size. Through Rietveld refinement, the interatomic distances and inclination angles of the Co1, Co2, and Co3 polyhedra were analyzed in order to establish the structural behavior of cobalt oxide (II, III) at 235 °C. The UV-vis analysis allowed determining band gap (Eg) with values of 1.6 eV in the first region and 0.97 eV in the second. Scanning electron microscopy images showed that the particles agglomerated with increasing calcination temperature and exhibited larger particles. This work presents a detailed analysis of structural parameters of Co3O4 using the Vesta software with Rietveld refinement data.

Keywords

• Co3O4
• synthesis
• structural parameters
• polyhedra