Simple synthesis of Cr2O3 nanoparticles with a tunable particle size

Chromium oxide nanoparticles are used for industrial applications such as catalysts and pigments. Thus, it is very important to find a simple and cost-effective method for the synthesis of nanoparticles with homogenous and tunable particle size. In this work we successfully synthesized chromium(III) oxide nanoparticles by thermal decomposition of chromium glycerolate in a dynamic air atmosphere at different temperatures. The thermal behavior during the decomposition was analyzed by simultaneous thermal analysis. The chromium glycerolate precursor was analyzed by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy to obtain exact composition and information about the morphology. The particle size of the obtained nanoparticles was determined from XRD diffraction patterns using Scherrer equation and also by transmission electron microscopy. We also decomposed chromium glycerolate in argon atmosphere leading to the synthesis of two phase sample containing both the chromium(III) oxide and chromium carbide.