Tuning of Morphological, Structural and Optical Properties of α-Fe2O3 Nanoparticles by Precursor Concentration

(Adil Alshoaibi)

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Abstract

The current study focuses on a dual aim of developing an easy method to synthesise monodisperse hematite iron oxide (α-Fe2O3) nanoparticles and controlling their optical, structural and morphological properties. By using a low-cost and eco-friendly room temperature sonication method, a series of iron oxide nanoparticles were prepared on a nano scale, with fine sizes ranging from 4–10 nm. Optical, structural and morphological properties were precisely modified by varying the concentration of the solution of iron chloride (0.01 M, 0.02 M and 0.05 M). X-ray diffraction and Raman spectra revealed that the prepared nanoparticles had a high crystallinity, confirming that they were hematite. The nanoparticles' crystallite sizes increased from 6 to 10 nm with solution molarity. The optical measurements showed that the band gap energy of α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles (annealed) decreased from 2.67 eV to 2.46 eV with the increasing of solution molarity from 0.01 M to 0.05 M, respectively. Results of field emission scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that the α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles appeared as spherical dots, and their sizes increased from 6 to 10 nm with the concentration of the solution. The presented green synthesis might be useful in controlling the functional properties of magnetic nanostructures for a variety of applications.

KEYWORDS
Band gap energy, green synthesis, hematite iron oxide, X-ray diffraction

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References

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