Sol‐Gel Related Solvothermal Procedure to Prepare Iron Oxide Fibers

A sol‐gel‐related solvothermal process is developed to prepare iron oxide fibers. Continuous iron oxide gel fiber was drawn from spinnable sol using ferric alkoxide as the precursor, and hollow hematite fiber was obtained after the gel fiber was treated by hydroncarbon thermal reaction. The as‐prepared hollow fiber was several millimeters in length, 4∼15 µm in outer diameter, and ∼3 µm in wall thickness. Substituting the hydrocarbon with triethylamide, Fe₃O₄ solid fiber composed of nanorods can be obtained. Incubated at 200°C in air for only 1 hour, Fe₃O₄ was oxidated to γ‐Fe₂O₃ fiber. Possible mechanisms involved in formation of these nanostructured iron oxide fibers also are discussed.

Keywords:

• Sol‐gel solvent
• hydrocarbon thermal reaction
• iron oxide

Acknowledgments

The financial support received from Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50506020 and 50706033) and from Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin (No. 04360521) is acknowledged.