Preparation and characteristics of core–shell F-doped γ-Fe2O3 hollow microspheres

Well-crystallized core–shell F-doped γ-Fe2O3 hollow microspheres have been fabricated by a simple approach consisting of solvothermal synthesis and post-synthesis calcination. The structure and morphology were investigated by XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, UV, and EDS. XRD and XPS studies indicated that the as-prepared products were well-crystallized cubic spinel structure. TEM and SEM images showed that the F-doped γ-Fe2O3 samples were of hollow core–shell structures with an average diameter of about 450 nm. The mean diameter of the cores of those spheres is about 200 nm. UV–vis spectra reveal that the band gap energies of the γ-Fe2O3 microspheres can be tuned.

► Core-shell F-doped γ-Fe2O3 hollow microspheres were fabricated by a simple approach.
► The mean diameters of the hollow spheres and the cores are about 450 nm and 200 nm.
► The F-doped γ-Fe2O3 microspheres show tunable band gap energy.