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Effect of nano-hematite morphology on photocatalytic activity

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Abstract

Nano-hematites, i.e., hematites with nanoparticle-, nanorod-, and nanotube-like morphologies, were synthesized via the hydrothermal method by controlling the reaction time, temperature, and reactant concentration. The nano-hematites of different crystal shapes all exhibited band gaps within the visible-light region (1.56–2.1 eV). Further, they showed weak ferromagnetic behavior, and their coercive magnetic field was larger than that of the bulk hematite. Moreover, all the nano-hematites also exhibited high photocatalytic activities during the degradation of methylene blue under visible-light irradiation. The experimental data fitted the Langmuir–Hinshelwood kinetics model very well. The nanorods had the highest photocatalytic rate constant per unit surface area, possibly owing to a higher aspect ratios; this lowers the electron–hole recombination rate. These results suggest that the crystal morphology of hematites has a significant effect on their physical and photocatalytic properties. Therefore, controlling the morphology of the materials is essential for obtaining well-tailored photocatalysts.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Prof. Wei-The Jiang of the Department of Earth Sciences for the help with XRD measurements. We thank the Instrument Center of National Cheng Kung University for the SQUID measurement. We sincerely thank the National Science Council for the financial support.

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  1. Department of Earth Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, 1, University Rd., East Dist., Tainan City, 701, Taiwan, ROC

    Y. H. Chen & C. C. Lin

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Correspondence to Y. H. Chen.

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Chen, Y.H., Lin, C.C. Effect of nano-hematite morphology on photocatalytic activity. Phys Chem Minerals 41, 727–736 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00269-014-0686-9

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