title: Controlled synthesis of alpha-Fe2O3 nanorods and its size-dependent optical absorption, electrochemical, and magnetic properties.
abstract: Uniform alpha-Fe(2)O(3) nanorods with diameter of about 30 nm and length up to 500 nm were synthesized by a template-free hydrothermal method and a following calcination of the intermediate product in the air at 500 degrees C for 2 h. By carefully tuning the concentration of the reactants, a series of alpha-Fe(2)O(3) nanorods with gradient in aspect ratios can be obtained. The effect of the solvent was also evaluated. Based on the experimental facts, the formation mechanism of this one-dimensional structure was proposed. The size-dependent properties of the as-obtained alpha-Fe(2)O(3) nanorods were investigated. The optical absorption properties of the samples showed that the band gaps of the samples decreased in the sequence in which the size increased. The electrochemical performance of the samples showed that the discharge capacity decreased as the size of the sample increased, which may result from the high surface area and small size. The magnetic hysteresis measurements taken at 5 K showed that the coercivities of the samples were related to the aspect ratios of the samples, which may result from the larger shape anisotropy. However, the temperature-dependent field cooling magnetization showed that there was no Morin transition in the as-prepared samples, which may result from the surface effect.
authors.affiliation: Nanomaterial and Nanochemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Suyuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Kaibin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Tanwei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li