ZVISHAVANE CAMPUS

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND GEOSCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF METARLLUGICAL AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING

NAME : Sharon Hondo

REG NUMBER : R203884G

PROGRAMME : MINING ENGINEERING

ENTRY MODE : CONVECTIONAL

LEVEL : 2:2

MODULE CODE : HMINE 226

TITTLE : ASSIGNMENT 2

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Question 1

Define spinels with diagrams

Spinel is a tough, glassy mineral made primarily of magnesium and aluminum oxides and fou
nd as octahedral crystals of varying color.

Any of a group of oxides, including spinel, with the general formula MAl2O4, which

includes aluminum and another metal

Formulas for spinels

The spinels have the general chemical formula AB2X4.

Where:

AII = a divalent cation like Mg, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Sn

BIII = a trivalent cation like Al, Ga, In, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Fe, Co, Ni

X = O, S, Se etc.

Examples of Normal Spinels: MgAl2O4 (known as spinel), Mn3O4, ZnFe2O4,

FeCr2O4 (chromite) etc.

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The spinel structure is formulated MM'2X4, where M and M' are tetrahedrally and
octahedrally coordinated cations, respectively, and X is an anion (typically O or F). The
structure is named after the mineral MgAl2O4, and oxide spinels have the general formula
AB2O4.

Chemical classification diagrams (see Gargiulo et al. 2013) for the spinel group minerals of the
investigated localities near Dietrichshorn. a-Spinel prism for the multi-component system:
spinel-hercynite-chromite-magnesiochromite-magnesioferritemagnetite (after Deer et al.
1992). The projections of the triangularfront face and the lateral-left face of the prism, represent
the diagrams in "b" and "c"; b-Triangular classification diagram (Cr 3+-Fe 3+-Al 3+ ). "Spinel
gap" field from Barnes & Roeder (2001); c-Binary classification diagram considering the Mg
2+-Fe 2+ exchange in the structural site "X": Fe 2+ /(Mg 2+ + Fe 2+ ).

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Question 2

In the MgAl2O4 –ZnAl2O4 system the solid solution is stable in the range from room
temperature to melting temperature. In the MgAl2O4 –Mg2TiO4 system the solid solution
decomposes below 1380 °C, yielding the formation of limited regions of homogeneity on the
basis of MgAl2O4 and Mg2+2δ Ti1-δO4. Decomposition of the solid solution is accompanied by
crystallization of MgTiO3.

Diagram below shows Activities for Mg 0.5 AlO 2 and Mg 0.5 CrO 2 in spinel solid
solution:

The tie-lines delineating intercrystalline ion-exchange equilibria between MgAl2O4-

MgCr2O4 spinel solid solution and Al2O3-Cr2O3 solid solution with corundum structure have
been determined at 1473 K by electron microprobe and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of
equilibrated phases. The tie-lines are skewed to the solid solution 0.7MgAl2O4-0.3MgCr2O…

… of log Mg 0.5 AlO 2 can be evaluated at any composition from the area above the curve.
The derived activities for Mg 0.5 AlO 2 and Mg 0.5 CrO 2 in spinel solid solution at 1473 K
are shown below. Activities of both components exhibit positive deviations from Raoult’s law
over most of the composition range. ..

… the measured concentration of Cr in the alloy and a separately determined value of the
activity coefficient of chromium in the alloy, the activity of MgCr 2 O 4 was calcu- ion
exchange equilibrium between the solid solutions having spinel and corundum structures can
be represented by the lated. Their data, after converting to Mg 0.5 CrO 2 as the mixing species,
are shown below . Although the data show equation significant scatter, the general trend is
similar to that obtained Cr 2 [1] in this study, despite the considerable difference in tempera-
ture. ...

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The solid solubility of Al2O3 in NiAl2O4 spinel has been investigated by powder X-ray
diffraction of samples prepared by solid state synthesis.

The cubic cell parameter of the spinel solid solution was observed to decrease with
increasing alumina content. Spinel with high alumina content was shown to be close to an
inverse spinel

The degree of inversion in the spinel solid solution in the system NiO–Al2O3 has been
investigated. The inversion was little influenced by the Al2O3 content and decreases with
increasing equilibrated temperature. At room temperature the spinel is close to inverse.

The composition of grains of chromian spinel (magnesiochromite-chromite solid solutions) in

placer samples used in this study (n = 1199) expressed in terms of Cr/(Cr + Al) versus Fe 2+
/(Mg + Fe 2+ ).The symbols of the end-member spinels are: Mcr: magnesiochromite (MgCr 2
O 4 ), Chr: chromite (Fe 2+ Cr 2 O 4 ), Hc: hercynite (Fe 2+ Al 2 O 4 ), and Spl: spinel sensu
stricto (MgAl 2 O 4 ).

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ariation of unit cell volume of the spinel solid solution MgAl 2 O 4
The tie-lines delineating intercrystalline ion-exchange equilibria between MgAl2O4-
MgCr2O4 spinel solid solution and Al2O3-Cr2O3 solid solution with corundum structure
have been determined at

1473 K by electron microprobe and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of equilibrated phases.
The tie-lines are skewed to the solid solution 0.7MgAl2O4-0.3MgCr2O…

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Question 3

The importance of spinels

using spinel oxide (CFO) as an oil absorbent material.

Oxides has wide applications in several fields including: gas sensors, magnetic devices, water
purification, medicine, catalysts, recharging batteries and ammonia production by electric
stimulation.

The development of spinel ferrite nanomaterial (SFN)-based hybrid architectures has become
more popular owing to the fascinating physicochemical properties of SFNs, such as their
good electro-optical and catalytic properties, high chemothermal stability, ease of
functionalization, and superparamagnetic behaviour

Spinel soft ferrites are magnetic materials which form an important classification of metal
oxides containing ferric ions. These materials are represented with empirical formulae
M2+Fe23+O4 (where M = Mg2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, Fe2+, Mn2+ etc.). Nanoscale particles of these
soft ferrites are important for several applications such as in the design of power antenna, low
noise electronic devices, high frequency, biocompatible biomedical tools, for use in eco-
friendly wastewater treatment and catalysis. Ni-Zn ferrites are unique due to their properties
such as high electrical resistivity, saturation magnetization and magnetic permeability. In
addition, Ni-Zn ferrite nanoparticles provide a large surface to volume ratio as compared to
their bulk counterparts and these materials have exceptional properties like spin coating,
surface anisotropy and superparamagnetism.

MFe2O4 (M = Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Zn) nanosized ferrites present good magnetic (high coercivity,
high anisotropy, high Curie temperature, moderate saturation magnetization), electrical (high
electrical resistance, low eddy current losses), mechanical (significant mechanical hardness),
and chemical (chemical stability, rich redox chemistry) properties that make them suitable for
potential applications in the field of magnetic and dielectric materials, photoluminescence,
catalysis, photocatalysis, water decontamination, pigments, corrosion protection, sensors,
antimicrobial agents, and biomedicine.

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Reference

• Robert J. Naumann: Introduction to the Physics and Chemistry of Materials

CRC Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4200-6134-5. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
• H-J Meyer: Festkörperchemie in: H-J Meyer (ed.), Riedel Moderne
Anorganische Chemie, Walter de Gruyter, 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-024900-2.
Retrieved 15 April 2018.
• Ernst, W. G. (1969). Earth Materials (Print ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-
Hall. P. 58.
Spinel group at Mindat
• Rawat, Pankaj Singh; Srivastava, R. C.; Dixit, Gagan; Joshi, G. C.; Asokan, K.
(2019). “Facile synthesis and temperature dependent dielectric properties of
MnFe2O4 nanoparticles”. Dae Solid State Physics Symposium 2018. Vol. 2115.
P. 030104. Doi:10.1063/1.5112943. S2CID 199183122.
• Vestal, Christy R.; Zhang, Z. John (2003). “Effects of Surface Coordination
Chemistry on the Magnetic Properties of MnFe2O4 Spinel Ferrite
Nanoparticles”. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 125 (32): 9828–9833.
Doi:10.1021/ja035474n. PMID 12904049.

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