A new one-step synthesis method for coating multi-walled carbon nanotubes with iron oxide nanorods

A facile solution-chemical method has been developed to be capable of covering a multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNTs) with iron oxide nanorods without using any bridging species. MWNTs in this composite were decorated randomly by α-Fe₂O₃ nanorods with diameters in the range of 3–5 nm and lengths of 15–30 nm. The formation route to anchor α-Fe₂O₃ nanorods onto MWNTs was proposed as the intercalation and adsorption of iron ions onto the wall of MWNTs, followed by the nucleation and growth of α-Fe₂O₃ nanorods. α-Fe₂O₃/MWNTs nanocomposites show specific high Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface areas. The photocatalytic activity experiment indicated that the prepared α-Fe₂O₃/MWNTs nanocomposites exhibited a higher photocatalytic activity for the photocatalytic decolorization of rhodamine B aqueous solution under the visible-light illumination than the single phase α-Fe₂O₃ samples. This methodology made the synthesis of MWNTs-nanorods composites possible and may be further extended to prepare more complicated nanocomposites based on MWNTs for technological applications.