A FACILE SYNTHESIS OF SHAPE- AND SIZE-CONTROLLED α-Fe2O3 NANOPARTICLES THROUGH HYDROTHERMAL METHOD

alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles have wide-ranging applications such as in catalysis, sensoring, painting, etc. This is the reason to study their controlled synthesis. Here we have investigated the synthesis of uniform alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles using amino acids as morphology control agents. The products were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). It was found that the type and the amount of amino acids as well as the reaction temperatures have significant influence on the shape and size of the obtained alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles. The use of acidic amino acids (always contain C=O in the side chain) typically leads to the formation of alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles with spindle shape. However, rhombohedrally shaped alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles were formed in presence of basic amino acids (always contain -NH2 in the side chain). Increasing the amount of amino acid generally results in alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles with decreasing particle sizes.