We synthesized zinc ferrite nanochains assembled from nanoparticles using a carbon nanotubes (CNTs) template method The resulting nanochains were systematically characterized with respect to crystal structure morphology elemental composition magnetic properties and specific surface area by X-ray diffraction (XRD) transmission electron microscopy (TEM) field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometry and the N-2 adsorption method The morphology results showed that the zinc ferrite particles with diameters of 10-20 rim were structurally linked to form nanochains The magnetic property investigation indicated that the zinc ferrite nanochains exhibited ferromagnetic behavior and possessed a saturation magnetization of 45 4 emu g(-1) at 300K We addressed the growth mechanism by analyzing the experimental conditions and characterization results This method may be applicable to synthesizing other metal oxide nanochains as well (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved