Ni2+/surfactant-assisted route to porous α-Fe2O3 nanoarchitectures

Abstract

Uniform porous three-dimensional nanoarchitectures of α-Fe₂O₃ with high yield have been synthesized by a route based on a Ni²⁺/surfactant system. The obtained α-Fe₂O₃ has a flue-like porous morphology with a rough surface. What is more, spatially ordered nodes and meshes are presented in these networks. By adjusting the experimental parameters such as temperature, reaction time, proportion of Ni²⁺/PVP and types of cation, we can control the morphology of the samples well. A possible formation mechanism is proposed to explain the growth of the flue-like nanostructures. The obtained flue-like porous α-Fe₂O₃ has a large specific surface area of 88.82 m² g⁻¹. It exhibits significantly enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic performance in the degradation of methylene blue, compared with α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles. This work not only enriches the synthesis methods of porous architectures, but also facilitates the applications of α-Fe₂O₃ in the fields of water treatment, sunlight utilization and so forth.