Syntheses and photocatalytic performances of vertically grown Fe2O3 and TiO2/Fe2O3 nanorods on coated glass substrates

• Fe2O3 nanorods on hematite-coated glass substrate were successfully grown first time.
• Rutile-TiO2/α-Fe2O3 nanorods were successfully synthesized as well firstly.
• Fe2O3 and TiO2/Fe2O3 nanorods exhibit high photocatalytic efficiencies for MB.

Fe2O3 nanorods vertically grown on α-Fe2O3 (hematite) coated glass substrate have been successfully synthesized first time through hydrothermal technique. The influences of process parameters on the morphologies of Fe2O3 nanorods were investigated in detail also. The synthesized samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. Vertically grown Fe2O3 nanorods exhibited a hematite-type crystal structure and a size of around 100 nm diameter and around 500 nm length. The rutile-TiO2/α-Fe2O3 hybrid nanorods were successfully synthesized as well. The photocatalytic experiments showed that either single hematite nanorods or mixture rutile with hematite nanorods exhibited a high photodegradation capability for methyl blue organic pollutant. This clearly means that Fe2O3-based nanorods can have an extended application such as waste water treatment.

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