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Water bath synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic performances of urchin-like micro/nanostructured α-FeOOH

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Abstract

Micro/nanostructured goethite (α-FeOOH) was synthesized by a low-temperature water bath method based on the reaction of urea and FeSO4•7H2O at 95 °C. It has been shown that the as-prepared α-FeOOH consists of nearly spherical particles with about 0.5–1 µm in diameter. The microsized α-FeOOH particles are urchin-like in morphology and composed of nanosized leaf-like objects, with about 150–200 nm in length and about 30–50 nm in width, in radial arrangement, showing high specific surface area (∼118 m2/g). The formation of such urchin-like α-FeOOH could be described by a two-step process, or formation of spherical particles, and ethylene glycol-adsorption induced preferential growth of nanoleaves on the preformed spherical particles. Importantly, such micro/nanostructured α-FeOOH has exhibited much higher photocatalytic activity to the organic pollutants, such as Rhodamine 6G, and better re-usable performances than the goethite nanorod powders, exhibiting the good application potential in the environmental treatment. This study could provide a useful material for environmental pollution treatment.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was financially supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2013CB934303), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2013T60632), and the CAS/SAFEA International Partnership Program for Creative Research Teams.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Centre for Environmental and Energy Nanomaterials, Anhui Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology, Institute of Solid State Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, People’s Republic of China

    Shenghong Kang, Guozhong Wang, Ming Fang, Huiming Wang, Xianbiao Wang & Weiping Cai

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  1. Shenghong Kang
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Contributing Editor: Akira Nakajima

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Kang, S., Wang, G., Fang, M. et al. Water bath synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic performances of urchin-like micro/nanostructured α-FeOOH. Journal of Materials Research 30, 1629–1638 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2015.103

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