title: High-yield synthesis of well-crystalline alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles: structural, optical and photocatalytic properties.
abstract: In this paper, the high-yield facile synthesis, detailed characterization and photocatalytic application of alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles are reported. The synthesis was done via simple hydrothermal process by using aqueous mixtures of iron chloride, hexamethylenediamine and NH3 x H2O at 110 degrees C. The morphologies of the synthesized products were examined by using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) which confirmed that the synthesized structures are almost spherical shaped nanoparticles with the average diameters of -35 +/- 5 nm, and are grown in high yield. The detailed structural characterizations and composition of the as-synthesized nanoparticles were investigated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution TEM (HRTEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) attached with FESEM and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) which substantiated that the as-synthesized nanoparticles are well crystalline and pure alpha-Fe2O3. The UV-Vis absorption spectrum of the synthesized nanoparticles demonstrated the existence of two optical band gaps which correspond to direct and indirect transitions, respectively. The as-synthesized alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles exhibit good photocatalytic properties on photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Materials and Nano-Engineering Laboratory (AMNEL), Centre for Advanced Materials and Nano-Engineering (CAMNE), Najran University, P.O. Box 1988, Najran 11001, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Umar
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abaker
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Faisal
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baskoutas
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Al-Sayari
mesh_terms: D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D005290:Ferric Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010316:Particle Size; D012031:Refractometry; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D005290:Ferric Compounds; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; C000499:ferric oxide