Morphology-controlled synthesis of α-Fe2O3 nanostructures with magnetic property and excellent electrocatalytic activity for H2O2

α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals (NCs) with different morphologies are successfully synthesized via a facile template-free hydrothermal route. By simply changing the volume ratio of ethanol to water, we obtained three different α-Fe2O3 nanostructures of rhombohedra, truncated rhombohedra and hexagonal sheet. The morphologies and structures of the as-obtained products have been confirmed by varieties of characterizations such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The influences of the experimental conditions, such as the amount of NaOH and reaction temperature on the morphologies of the as-prepared α-Fe2O3 NCs, have been well investigated. Additionally, magnetic investigations show that the as-obtained α-Fe2O3 nanostructures show structure-dependent magnetic properties. Furthermore, the electrochemical experiments indicate that the as-prepared α-Fe2O3 hexagonal sheets exhibit strong electrocatalytic reduction activity for H2O2.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights► α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals with different morphologies are successfully synthesized via a facile template-free hydrothermal route. ► By simply changing the volume ratio of ethanol to water, three different nanostructures were obtained. ► The as-prepared α-Fe2O3 hexagonal sheets exhibited strong electrocatalytic reduction activity for H2O2.