Abstract
Byline: A. Modwi (1), L. Khezami (1), Kamal K. Taha (1,2), Ammar Houas (1,3) Herewith, we report the successful preparation of [Zn.sub.0.95-x][Cu.sub.0.05][Fe.sub.0.0x]O mesoporous composites using sol--gel method and their characterization using different techniques. Increasing the ratio of iron in the composites has considerably led to particles size reduction (22--18 nm) along with the increase in surface area (7--63 [m.sup.2]g.sup.-1) as respectively evidenced from the XRD and N.sub.2 adsorption analysis. The effect of Fe doping on the [Zn.sub.0.95][Cu.sub.0.05]O brought about an increment in micro-strain from 5.03x10.sup.-3 to 6.33x10.sup.-3 and a reduction in stress in accordance with the particle size minimization. The morphology of the nanocomposite exhibited a semispherical appearance that got distorted with the loading of more Fe. In addition, the great surface area observed indicates a high grain boundary surfaces. The formation and purity of the nanocomposite was confirmed by the shift in the Zn--O wavenumber as shown in the FTIR spectra. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, Al Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh, 11432, Saudi Arabia (2) College of Applied and Industrial Sciences, University of Bahri, Khartoum, Sudan (3) Unite de Recherche Catalyse et Materiaux pour l'Environnement et les Procedes URCMEP (UR11ES85), Faculte des Sciences de Gabes, Universite de Gabes, Rue Omar Ibn Alkhattab, 6029, Gabes, Tunisia Article History: Registration Date: 23/10/2017 Received Date: 05/08/2017 Accepted Date: 23/10/2017 Online Date: 02/11/2017