Rapid Microwave Method for Synthesis of Iron Oxide Particles under Specific Conditions

The advantages of microwave technology over conventionally conducted experiments are numerous. Some of them are reduction in reaction time, a higher degree of process control, repeatability, and work safety. Microwave synthesis routes require a complete description of the experimental details, instrumentation, and design program of a microwave oven used in the experiments. In this work, microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of hematite (α-Fe2O3) particles from 0.1 M FeCl3 solution in highly alkaline media with heating in a microwave oven at continuous microwave emission of 800 W at 150 °C, 200 °C, and 250 °C for 20 min are presented. Also, the influence of the percentage of the addition of a cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) on the composition, size, and shape of the final product was investigated. The samples precipitated at 150 °C formed a final product consisting of goethite (α-FeOOH) and hematite particles in contrast to the those precipitated at 200 °C and 250 °C where pure hematite phase was obtained. In these synthesis routes, the CTAB caused to slow down the rate of the goethite-to-hematite transformation process at temperatures at 200 °C but did not affect the transformation at 250 °C.