Growth of Hematite Nanostructures in Iron Foil for Environmental Cleaning

Abstract

Hematite (Fe2O3) nanostructures were successfully grown on the surface of iron foil by simple thermal oxidation in air. The iron foil was heated at 300 – 700 °C for 8 h to produce Fe2O3 nanosheets and nanowires. The oxide layer is primarily composed of Fe2O3 with a small amount of magnetite (Fe3O4) and wustite (FeO). The photocatalytic activity of the Fe2O3 nanowires was investigated by degradation of methyl orange dye under 30 W UV light in the presence of a minute amount of hydrogen peroxide. The Fe2O3 nanowires exhibit excellent photocatalytic activity, wherein 2.5 ppm of the methyl orange was fully decomposed in 30 min.