Hydrothermal extraction of α-Fe2O3 nanocrystallite from hematite ore

Abstract α-Fe 2 O 3 nanocrystallite has been extracted from its ore raw material by using simple chemical method. Mineralogical and chemical compositions of the raw material were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared (IR) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) techniques. Also, thermal behavior including thermogravimetry (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) of the raw material was examined. Scherrer's equation and XRD data were used to determinate the crystallite size and phase composition of the extracted hematite nanocrystallite. Morphology of the extracted α-Fe 2 O 3 particles was tested using scanning electron microscope (SEM). About 96.80% of the total iron oxide present in the raw material sample was extracted as α-Fe 2 O 3 with the average crystallite size less than 100 nm. The extracted α-Fe 2 O 3 nanocrystallite is considered as a promise material for great technological applications as ceramic humidity sensors, catalysts, pigments, ferrofluid, recording systems, etc.