title: Facet-Controlling Agents Free Synthesis of Hematite Crystals with High-Index Planes: Excellent Photodegradation Performance and Mechanism Insight.
abstract: Hematite (α-Fe2O3) crystals with uniform size and structure are synthesized through very facile one-pot hydrothermal methods without any additive. The as-synthesized sub-micrometer-sized α-Fe2O3 crystals with small surface areas perform superb visible light photodegradation activities, even much better than most other α-Fe2O3 nanostructures with large surface areas. Profound mechanism analyses reveal that the microwave-assisted hydrothermal (Mic-H) synthesized α-Fe2O3 is enclosed by 12 high-index {2-15} facets. The structure and the low unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of the high-index planes result in the excellent photocatalytic activity. This is the first report on the formation of {2-15} plane group of hematite, and the synthesis of the hematite particles with the {2-15} planes is very simple and no any facet-controlling agent is used. This study may pave the way to further performance enhancement and practical applications of the cheap hematite materials.
authors.affiliation: College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University , Nanjing 210095, China.|Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong , Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.|Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba , Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan.
authors.forename: Dahu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong , Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney , Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Cuifeng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney , Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Zongwen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong , Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Jichang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong , Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Ruiqin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University , Nanjing 211189, China.
authors.forename: Jianhai
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University , Nanjing 211189, China.
authors.forename: Yuanjian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba , Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan.
authors.forename: Zhongfang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba , Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan.
authors.forename: Zhenya
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong , Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Chunyi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhi
keywords: facile synthesis method; hematite; high-index facets; photocatalysts; structure analysis