Mesoporous flower-like α-Fe2O3 nanoarchitectures: Facile synthesis and their magnetic and photocatalytic properties

Mesoporous flower-like alpha-Fe2O3 nanoarchitectures composed of nanoparticles were successfully prepared by direct hydrothermal decomposition of Fe(III)-EG gel in aqueous solution without using any template or surfactant. Results from X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that the as-prepared products were pure hematite without any impurity. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses indicated that the as-prepared products exhibit flower-like nanoarchitectures with a diameter of about 0.15 mu m built from several dozen nanoparticles with average diameter of 30-60 nm. Furthermore, investigations on the effects of reaction conditions showed that almost all the products display flower-like nanoarchitecures and show diameter from 120 to 160 nm at different heating temperatures and reaction times. Moreover, results of magnetic and photocatalytic analysis revealed that the as-prepared alpha-Fe2O3 microflowers had ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature and showed enhanced photocatalytic activity for degradation of methyl orange (MO). 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.