Rapid synthesis of dendrite‐ and platelet‐like α‐Fe2O3 via a hydrothermal oxidation route

Dendrite and platelet‐like α‐Fe₂O₃ microcrystals were synthesized by the oxidation reaction of K₄Fe(CN)₆and NaClO₃ through a simple hydrothermal method. The structures and morphologies of the as‐prepared samples were characterized in detail by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experiment results show that NaOH played an important role in controlling the morphology of the final products. The possible mechanism was discussed to elucidate the formation of different morphologies of the α‐Fe₂O₃ microstructures. Besides, the magnetic property of the dendrite α‐Fe₂O₃ microstructure was characterized by a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)