Determination of thermooptical and transport parameters of ε iron(III) oxide-based nanocomposites by beam deflection spectroscopy

•Method for determining thermo-optical and transport parameters during one measurements is proposed.•Characterization of ε-Fe2O3-based nanomaterials supported on Si(1 0 0) is performed.•Strategy for enhancing the lifetime of photogenerated charge carriers and decreasing the Eg values is described.•A way of enhancement of the material’s thermal properties is presented.•Development of more efficient nanocomposite systems for light-activated applications is achieved.

In this work, photothermal beam deflection (PBD) experiments have been used to characterize the thermooptical and transport properties of ε-Fe2O3-based nanocomposites. In particular, iron(III) nanostructures have been functionalized with Au, Ag and Cu nanoparticles, tailoring both their nano-organization and their chemical state. In order to elucidate the correlation between the thermooptical and transport parameters, the structural, compositional and morphological properties of Fe2O3-based systems were studied by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). It was observed that the optothermal and transport parameters were influenced by the nature and oxidation state of the nanoparticles, which can serve as a key tool to master the material properties for their application in light-assisted processes.