Tuning the Magnetic and Catalytic Properties of Manganese Ferrite through Zn²⁺ Doping: Gas Phase Oxidation of Octanol

Spinel ferrites, ZnFe2O4, MnFe2O4, and ZnMnFe2O4, were synthesized using the sol-gel method and thoroughly investigated for their potential as catalytic and magnetic materials. Experiments unveiled that ZnMnFe2O4 exhibited excellent catalytic and magnetic properties, whereas the Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations provided insight into the excellent performance of ZnMnFe2O4 compared with ZnFe2O4 and MnFe2O4. The catalytic efficiencies of the synthesized spinel ferrites were evaluated against a model reaction, i.e., the gas-phase oxidation of octanol to a corresponding aldehyde, utilizing molecular oxygen as an oxidant. The results indicated that the order of catalytic activity was ZnMnFe2O4 > MnFe2O4 > ZnFe2O4. The reaction was found to follow Langmuir Hinshelwood's mechanism for dissociative adsorption of molecular oxygen. Owing to their superb catalytic and magnetic properties, mixed ferrites can be extended to a variety of organic transformation reactions.