Structural- and optical-properties analysis of single crystalline hematite ( alpha -Fe sub(2)O sub(3)) nanocubes prepared by one-pot hydrothermal approach

High quality single crystal hematite ( alpha -Fe sub(2)O sub(3)) nanocubes with average dimensions of 40 nm were successfully synthesized by a facile one-pot hydrothermal method. Systematic analyses were performed to investigate the morphological-, structural- and optical-properties of the as-synthe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:CrystEngComm 2016-06, Vol.18 (25), p.4720-4732
Main Authors: Abdul Rashid, Nur Maisarah, Haw, Choonyian, Chiu, Weesiong, Khanis, Noor Hamizah, Rohaizad, Aliff, Khiew, PoiSim, Abdul Rahman, Saadah
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Correlation
Devices
Formations
Heating
Hematite
Nanostructure
Renewable energy
Single crystals
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Summary:High quality single crystal hematite ( alpha -Fe sub(2)O sub(3)) nanocubes with average dimensions of 40 nm were successfully synthesized by a facile one-pot hydrothermal method. Systematic analyses were performed to investigate the morphological-, structural- and optical-properties of the as-synthesized alpha -Fe sub(2)O sub(3) nanocubes. Continuous formation and hourly monitoring towards proper arrangement of single crystal alpha -Fe sub(2)O sub(3) nanocubes was observed throughout the hydrothermal heating process of 180 degree C from 4 h to 12 h. The probable growth mechanism on the formation of cubic nanostructures is also proposed. Electron micrographs show the cubic alpha -Fe sub(2)O sub(3) synthesized at the most optimum 8 h hydrothermal heating duration are indeed produced in high-yield with a well-defined cubical shape. The typical rhombohedral structure of cubic alpha -Fe sub(2)O sub(3) was evident from the XRD pattern. The SAED pattern indicates that the alpha -Fe sub(2)O sub(3) nanocubes are single-crystalline in nature, with lattice-fringes and a d-spacing value of 3.6 Aa. The optical characterization reveals that alpha -Fe sub(2)O sub(3) nanocubes show strong visible-light absorption with a band gap energy of similar to 2.1 eV while the photoluminescence emission spectra depicts a mono-peak centered at similar to 590 nm. Both the SAED pattern and UV-vis spectra show a strong correlation with the standard alpha -Fe sub(2)O sub(3). The as-synthesized alpha -Fe sub(2)O sub(3) single crystal is of high quality that potentially could be used as a visible-light active nanomaterial in renewable energy device applications.
ISSN:1466-8033
DOI:10.1039/c6ce00573j