Synthesis and Characterization of α-Fe2O3 Nanoparticles by Simple Co-Precipitation Method

Abstract

In the past decade, magnetic nanomaterials have attracted much attention due to their physical properties and technological applications. In this work, α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles were first synthesized <em>via </em>a simple co-precipitation method using iron chloride hexahydrate (FeCl₃.6H₂O) as precursor and ammonia solution as precipitator. The samples were then characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), field effect scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. XRD pattern showed that the iron oxide nanoparticles exhibited <em>alpha</em>-Fe₂O₃ (hematite) structure innanocrystals. The α- Fe₂O₃ nano-powders with uniform size were prepared when the samples calcined at 500 °C, and the lowest particle size was found to be 30 nm by XRD technique and direct HRTEM observation. The surface morphological studies from SEM depicted sphere-like shaped particles with formation of clusters by increasing annealing temperature. The EDS spectrum showed peaks of iron and oxygen free of impurity with fewer elements. The sharp peaks in FTIRspectrum determined the purity of Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles and absorbance peak of UV-Vis spectrum showed the small bandgap energy of 2.58 ev.