Magnetic properties of amorphous β-FeOOH nanowire arrays

β-FeOOH nanowire arrays with diameters of 50–200 nm have been fabricated by electrochemical deposition using two-step anodic porous alumina templates. The as-prepared nanowires are homogeneous and have large aspect ratios. The selected area electron diffraction photo performed on a single wire was used to confirm the amorphous crystal structure further. The magnetic properties of these nanowire arrays were firstly investigated by using a SQUID magnetometry. The ZFC and FC studies show that these nanowire arrays exhibit spin-freezing phenomena at low temperature. The temperature-dependent magnetization curves show that the Neel transition temperatures are much lower than that of bulk material. Moreover, hysteresis was found at 5 K and the coercivities up to about 1500 Oe. The size-dependent magnetic properties were also investigated. These abnormal magnetic behaviours can be interpreted in terms of the amorphous crystal structure and the low dimensionality of the nanowire arrays.