A Metastable Ion (III) Oxide Phase (ε-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>): Preparation and Gas Sensing Properties

Abstract

ε-Fe2O3 is a rare and metastable iron (III) oxide phase. ε-Fe2O3/SiO2 composites were prepared by combining the reverse-micelle and sol-gel methods. An appropriate amount of Ba2+ was needed in this system to promote the formation of ε-Fe2O3 nanorods in SiO2. The size of nanorods varied with different Ba2+ addition amount and sintering procedure. Then pure ε-Fe2O3 nanorods were obtained after stripping SiO2 by etching due to NaOH aqueous solution. The as-synthesized ε-Fe2O3 nanorods were discussed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Interestingly, metastable ε-Fe2O3 nanorods showed a promising performance for the response for ethanol, compared with the stable phases of α-Fe2O3 and γ-Fe2O3. It indicates that nanostructure ε-Fe2O3 (including ε-Fe2O3 nanorods) could be a valuable material for the fabrication of advanced sensing devices.