title: Hydrothermal evolution, optical and electrochemical properties of hierarchical porous hematite nanoarchitectures.
abstract: Hollow or porous hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanoarchitectures have emerged as promising crystals in the advanced materials research. In this contribution, hierarchical mesoporous α-Fe2O3 nanoarchitectures with a pod-like shape were synthesized via a room-temperature coprecipitation of FeCl3 and NaOH solutions, followed by a mild hydrothermal treatment (120°C to 210°C, 12.0 h). A formation mechanism based on the hydrothermal evolution was proposed. β-FeOOH fibrils were assembled by the reaction-limited aggregation first, subsequent and in situ conversion led to compact pod-like α-Fe2O3 nanoarchitectures, and finally high-temperature, long-time hydrothermal treatment caused loose pod-like α-Fe2O3 nanoarchitectures via the Ostwald ripening. The as-synthesized α-Fe2O3 nanoarchitectures exhibit good absorbance within visible regions and also exhibit an improved performance for Li-ion storage with good rate performance, which can be attributed to the porous nature of Fe2O3 nanoarchitectures. This provides a facile, environmentally benign, and low-cost synthesis strategy for α-Fe2O3 crystal growth, indicating the as-prepared α-Fe2O3 nanoarchitectures as potential advanced functional materials for energy storage, gas sensors, photoelectrochemical water splitting, and water treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Qufu Normal University, Shandong, 273165, China. zhuwancheng@tsinghua.org.cn.
authors.forename: Wancheng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Xili
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Xiaofei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Liyun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jia-Qi
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Xianglan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Piao
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang