Synthesis and Catalytic Activity of Spinel Ferrites: A Brief Review

The spinel ferrites have earned enormous interest worldwide because of their attractive potential applications. This review highlights different synthetic protocols of spinel ferrites such as co-precipitation, sol-gel, microemulsion, solid-state, hydrothermal, and thermal decomposition, where each method can influence the properties of ferrites. The use of ferrites in heterogeneous catalysis of various organic syntheses is discussed therein; the activity is mostly particle size-dependent. The catalytic activity of spinel ferrites towards photo-irradiated dye degradation is also studied. In the presence of H2O2 producing a Fenton-type system, ferrites have tremendous potential for dye degradation in an advanced oxidation process.