Solvothermal synthesis and characterization of acicular α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles

Nanometer-sized alpha-Fe2O3 particles have been prepared by a simple solvothermal method using ferric acetylacetonate as a precursor. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDAX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transition electron microscopy (TEM), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and thermal analysis (TG-DTA). XRD indicates that the product is single-phase alpha-Fe2O3 with rhombohedral structure. Bundles of acicular shaped nanoparticles are seen in TEM images with an aspect ratio similar to 12; typically 8-12 nm wide and over 150 nm long. The alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles posses a high thermal stability, as observed on thermal analysis traces.