Electrophysical and Morphological Properties of a Hydrothermally Synthesized CuFe2O4 and CuFe2O4 / Reduced Graphene Oxide Composite

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to compare the structural, morphological and electrical properties of the CuFe2O4 and CuFe2O4 / reduced graphene oxide composite. XRD and Mossbauer studies have shown that joint hydrothermal synthesis of cubic copper ferrite and reduction of graphene oxide leads to a decrease in ferrite particles from 14 to 8 nm. Based on the impedance spectroscopy data, a model of the obtained composite material has been prepared as a system consisting of contacting spinel particles covered with rGO clusters and separated by porous rGO. For CuFe2O4 / rGO composite material, the predominance of hopping charge transfer mechanisms has been shown, and the activation energies of electrical conductivity of grains and grain boundaries have been calculated.

Keywords

• copper ferrite
• reduced graphene oxide
• mossbauer spectroscopy
• pore size distribution
• electrical conductivity