Chowdhury, MR, Fester, V, Kale, G orcid.org/0000-0002-3021-5905 et al. (1 more author) (2014) Hydrothermal precipitation of β-FeOOH nanostructure(s) in mixed solvent: study of their morphological and structural evolution. Journal of Nanoparticle Research, 16 (5). 2412. ISSN 1388-0764
Abstract
This paper describes the homogeneous precipitation of β-FeOOH nanorods (±5 nm dia.) in alcohol—water mixed solvents. Four alcohols, butanol (BuOH), propanol (PrOH), ethanol (EtOH) and methanol (MeOH), were mixed with water as the solvents to evaluate the effect of alcohols on the β-FeOOH particle characteristics under different hydrothermal process parameters. Crystal splitting was achieved at 0.7 M [FeCl₃] in BuOH, and β-FeOOH nanoribbons were obtained in MeOH. Replacing Cl− with SO₄ ²⁻ in a controlled pH (2) environment results a 98 % reduction in the synthesis time of hydronium iron jarosite, H₃O.Fe₃(SO₄)₂(OH)₆, regardless of the nature of the alcohol. Single phase hydronium iron jarosite could not be synthesised without the presence of alcohol. Alcohol-to-water ratio played a critical role in controlling particle nucleation and growth. Spherical α-Fe₂O₃ (haematite) was obtained in pure alcohol, whereas an addition of 2 % (v/v) alcohol resulted in the precipitation of β-FeOOH nanofibrillar. Nanosize spherical α-Fe₂O₃ (average dia. 95 ± 19 nm) was achieved by altering solution pH in selective solvent. Required temperature for β-FeOOH to α-Fe₂O₃ transformation is solvent dependent and increases with the increasing carbon chain length in the linear alkyl chain of the solvent. The choice of solvent did not affect the Raman spectrum of the synthesised sample when compared to the standard Raman peaks. The synthesised β-FeOOH nanorods do not show ferromagnetism at any temperature down to 4 K and have a magnetic moment per unit mass of 1–1.5 Am²/kg at 5T.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Keywords: | β-FeOOH; Nanorods; Hydronium iron jarosite; Antiferromagnetic; Crystal splitting; Spherical nanoparticles |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemical & Process Engineering (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) > Condensed Matter (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 07 Nov 2018 10:37 |
Last Modified: | 05 Dec 2018 16:36 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s11051-014-2412-4 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:137823 |