Thermal decomposition of some metal-organic precursors

In this paper we present a study on the synthesis of Fe(III) oxide, by thermal decomposition of some complex combinations of Fe(III) with carboxylate type ligands, obtained in the redox reaction between some polyols (ethylene glycol (EG), 1,2-propane diol (1,2PG), 1,3-propane diol (1,3PG) and glycerol (GL)) and NO₃ ^– ions (from ferric nitrate). Fe₂O₃ was obtained by thermal decomposition of the synthesized metal-organic precursors at low temperatures. γ-Fe₂O₃ was obtained as nanoparticles at 300°C, while at higher temperatures α-Fe₂O₃ starts to crystallize and becomes single phase at ~500°C. The formation of the metal-organic precursors and their thermal decomposition were studied by thermal analysis and FTIR spectroscopy.