Issue 38, 2022

Revealing the crystal phases of primary particles formed during the coprecipitation of iron oxides

Abstract

The mechanistic investigation of the coprecipitation formation of iron oxides has been a long-standing challenge due to the rapid reaction kinetics and high complexity of iron hydrolysis reactions. Although a few studies have suggested that the coprecipitation of iron oxide nanoparticles follows a non-classic route through inter-particle attachment, the compositions of the primary particles remain undetermined. Herein, by using a specially designed gas/liquid mixed phase fluidic reactor we controlled the reaction time from 3 s to over 5 min, and successfully identified the concentration of different intermediate phases as a function of time. We suggest that the initial Fe3+ ions are hydrolyzed under the alkaline condition to give Fe(OH)3, which then rapidly dehydrates to yield α-FeOOH. In the presence of Fe2+ ions, which could also act as the catalyst, α-FeOOH finally transforms to Fe3O4.

Graphical abstract: Revealing the crystal phases of primary particles formed during the coprecipitation of iron oxides

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
21 Mar 2022
Accepted
12 Apr 2022
First published
12 Apr 2022

Chem. Commun., 2022,58, 5749-5752

Revealing the crystal phases of primary particles formed during the coprecipitation of iron oxides

Y. Mao, Z. Zhang, H. Zhan, J. Sun, Y. Li, Z. Su, Y. Chen, X. Gao, X. Huang and N. Gu, Chem. Commun., 2022, 58, 5749 DOI: 10.1039/D2CC01617F

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