Skip to main content

Catalysis Application of Magnetic Ferrites and Hexaferrites

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Magnetic Hybrid Nanoalloys and their Nanocomposites

Abstract

It is known that one of the first minerals manipulated since the sixth century BC contained a ferrite structure, type Fe3O4, designated as spinel. Later on, it was discovered that the ferrites are a much larger family. Spinels and hexaferrites have a chemical structure containing tetrahedral and octahedral sites. In the case of hexaferrites, they have more complex active centers such as polyhedral units. Several ferrites are ferrimagnetic and have a wide range of applications, especially in heterogeneous catalysis and photocatalysis processes in aqueous medium, in which it is possible to extract the post-reaction solid by simple application of an external magnetic field, facilitating its recycling. Ferrites have several interesting chemical properties, due to the presence of acidic, basic, and redox sites, which are fundamental for applications in heterogeneous catalysis. In addition, they present a low recombination rate of electron-hole pairs which are associated with their low band gap energy, making these solids promising for application in photocatalysis. These properties can be tuned by modifying the cation’s composition and the degree of inversion. This chapter describes the fundamentals about spinel ferrites and hexaferrites and their structural and chemical properties, emphasizing their applications in heterogeneous catalysis and photocatalysis. Aspects associated with reactant and active site interaction were also described, since understanding the chemical surface for the target catalytic application and the different steps in the heterogeneous catalytic cycle is mandatory for the design and optimization of catalysts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Barbosa, F.F., de Oliveira Soares, J., Miranda, M.O., Torres, M.A.M., Braga, T.P. (2022). Catalysis Application of Magnetic Ferrites and Hexaferrites. In: Handbook of Magnetic Hybrid Nanoalloys and their Nanocomposites. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34007-0_48-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34007-0_48-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-34007-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-34007-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Chemistry and Mat. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

Publish with us

Policies and ethics