In this paper, porous nanocrystalline ZnFe2O4 “timber-like” superstructures were synthesized through the thermal decomposition of zinc ferrioxalate precursor prepared from metal sulfates and sodium oxalate without adding any additives. The resulting ZnFe2O4 superstructures were systematically characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution TEM (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectrosco...