Fluorine doped Fe2O3 nanostructures by a one-pot plasma-assisted strategy

Abstract

The present work reports on the synthesis of fluorine doped Fe₂O₃ nanomaterials by a single-step plasma enhanced-chemical vapor deposition (PE-CVD) strategy. In particular, Fe(hfa)₂TMEDA (hfa = 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4-pentanedionate; TMEDA = N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine) was used as molecular source for both Fe and F in Ar/O₂ plasmas. The structure, morphology and chemical composition of the synthesized nanosystems were thoroughly analyzed by two-dimensional X-ray diffraction (XRD²), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A suitable choice of processing parameters enabled the selective formation of α-Fe₂O₃ nanomaterials, characterized by an homogeneous F doping, even at 100 °C. Interestingly, a simultaneous control of the system nanoscale organization and fluorine content could be achieved by varying the sole growth temperature. The tailored properties of the resulting materials can be favourably exploited for several technological applications, ranging from photocatalysis, to photoelectrochemical cells and gas sensing.