Abstract
In the present study, hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanostructures were deposited on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate using sonicated immersion synthesis method. The effect of FTO glass substrate placement in Schott vial during immersion process was studied on the growth of the hematite nanostructure and its properties. XRD pattern has revealed seven diffraction peaks of α-Fe2O3 for both hematite nanostructures samples attributed to polycrystalline with rhombohedral lattice structure. The surface morphologies from FESEM have shown that the hematite nanostructures were grown uniformly in both samples with FTO conductive layer facing up and down. Hematite sample with FTO facing down exhibits a smaller size of nanorod, 26.7 nm average diameter, compared to the hematite sample that FTO face up with 53.8nm average diameter. Optical properties revealed higher transmittance in the sample with FTO facing down, probably due to smaller size of nanostructure. The optical band gap energy plotted and extrapolated at 2.50eV and 2.55eV for FTO face up and FTO face down hematite samples respectively, presenting the sample with FTO face up has a lower optical bandgap energy.
Highlights
Hematite (α-Fe2O3) is the most stable iron oxide and becomes a promising material for electronic device applications due to its stability and low-cost mining
EXPERIMENTAL WORK In this research work, we investigate how the placement of the substrate where the conductive layer (FTO) surface facing to in the Schott vial might influence the growth of hematite nanostructure on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate
The FESEM images of sample with FTO facing up during immersion are presented by Figure 2(a) at 100,000×magnification and 2(b) 30,000×magnification, the images of sample with FTO facing down are presented by Figure 2(c) 100,000×magnification and 2(d) 30,000×magnification
Summary
Hematite (α-Fe2O3) is the most stable iron oxide and becomes a promising material for electronic device applications due to its stability and low-cost mining. Hematite is an n-type semiconductor with energy band gap Eg=2.1eV in ambient condition. It has a good stability, non-toxic, corrosion resistance and abundance. In many research works that synthesize hematite through hydrothermal, they have constrain with high temperature, high pressure and a long synthesis process which increase the fabrication cost [11, 12]. To the best of our knowledge, there are no reports on the study of the substrates placement to the properties of hematite nanostructure growth through solution based method. In this work, we present the study of hematite nanostructure growth on FTO glass substrate, a transparent conductive layer on glass for two different placements in Schott vial immersed in aqueous solution. The synthesis method that we use in this research is sonicated immersion method, which is merely require low temperature and short duration synthesis process
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