Behaviour investigation of hematite nanorods synthesised by hydrothermal method use in hydrogen fuel storage

Abstract

For the first time, hematite nanorods were successfully synthesised using iron nitrate precursors in the presence of cation SO4−2. This is also the first time that an investigation into hematite nanorods behaviour for hydrogen fuel storage has been carried out. Microspheres constructed with α-FeOOH nanorods were synthesised via a novel hydrothermal method using a mixture of Fe(NO3)3 · 4H2O and Na2SO4 as the initial material. The α-FeOOH was transformed into hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanorods through an annealing process at 600°C for 2 h. The influence of different anions on the formation of hematite α-Fe2O3 nanorods was investigated. Experimental results proved that the addition of Na2SO4 solution controlled the morphology of α-Fe2O3. Its structure and morphology were investigated using XRD, SEM and Raman techniques. The kinetic curve of hydrogen generation of some hematite morphology samples was examined by redox cycle and the hydrogen fuel was formed by oxidation with water vapour. Although the nanorod morphology of hematite samples was damaged during redox cycles, the samples demonstrated high activity for hydrogen generation in comparison with precipitation and sol gel samples. The ratio of H2/Fe of nanorod samples for two redox cycles was 1.91% and 1.76%, respectively. Thus, hematite nanorods are a promising material for storage of hydrogen fuel.