Abstract

• Magnetically separable Fe3O4-ZnO-CuO nanocomposites were prepared by sol-gel method. The XRD pattern of Fe3O4- ZnO- CuO nanocomposite showed the presence of Fe3O4, ZnO and CuO peaks. The crystallite sizes of Fe3O4- ZnO-0.5CuO, Fe3O4- ZnO- 1CuO, Fe3O4- ZnO- 2.5CuO and Fe3O4- ZnO- 5CuO nanocomposites were also calculated as 34.1 nm, 23.4 nm, 25.1 nm and 24.4 nm respectively. Characteristic peaks of Fe-O, Zn-O and Cu-O were found in the FT IR spectra. SEM images of Fe3O4- ZnO- CuO nanocomposite showed both spherical and clew like shaped particles. EDS showed the presence of Fe, Zn, Cu and O elements in Fe3O4- ZnO- CuO nanocomposite. Fe3O4- ZnO- CuO nanocomposites with different mole ratios were found to have cubic structure and TEM image of Fe3O4-ZnO-CuO nanocomposite also showed the cubic morphology. By TG-DTA weight loss less than 7 % were indicated thermal stability of the prepared of Fe3O4- ZnO- CuO nanocomposite.