Facile synthesis of uniform alpha-Fe2O3 crystals and their facet-dependent catalytic performance in the photo-Fenton reaction

Rhombohedron-shaped alpha-Fe2O3 crystals with exposed {0001} and {10 (1) over bar0} facets and truncated dodecahedron-like crystals with predominant {10 (1) over bar2} facets were synthesized via a facile and green hydrothermal method. These nanocrystals have similar sizes and BET surface areas. The crystals in shape of truncated dodecahedrons exhibited superior photocatalytic performance to that of the rhombohedron-shaped crystals. This observation may be attributable to the higher density of surface Fe ions on the {10 (1) over bar2} facet compared to that of the {0001} and {10 (1) over bar0} facets.