ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Synthesis and properties of nanostructured Cr-doped hematite fibres

Marko Robić, Mira Ristić, Marijan Marciuš, Stjepko Krehula, and Svetozar Musić

Division of Materials Chemistry, Rudjer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia

E-mail: music@irb.hr

Received: 26 February 2020  Accepted: 7 June 2020

Abstract:

Cr-doped α-Fe₂O₃ fibres were synthesized by combining electrospinning and the thermal treatment of electrospun composite fibres at 500 °C. XRD analysis showed the formation of solid solutions with a corresponding small decrease in the unit-cell volume due to a difference between the ionic radii of Fe³⁺ and Cr³⁺ cations. Mössbauer spectroscopy showed that the incorporation of Cr³⁺ into the α-Fe₂O₃ crystal structure induced a decrease in the hyperfine magnetic field. Doping of α-Fe₂O₃ with Cr³⁺ also influenced the shape and position of IR bands in relation to reference α-Fe₂O₃ fibres in the corresponding FT-IR spectra. The FE-SEM images of Cr-doped α-Fe₂O₃ fibres showed that they consisted of interconnected nanoparticles and possessed a hollow substructure. The photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B using electrospun fibres was also investigated.

Keywords: α-Fe2O3; Cr-doping; Electrospinning; XRD; FE-SEM; Spectroscopy; Photocatalysis

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-020-01247-6

Chemical Papers 74 (12) 4345–4353 (2020)