Hydrothermal preparation and characterization of octadecahedron Fe3O4 film

A 'green' hydrothermal process was used to prepare Fe3O4 film on steel foil using FeSO4 center dot 7H(2)O as the iron source and H2O2 as the oxidant. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) were employed to characterize the film. The results showed that the film was composed of fine particles with regularly octadecahedron morphology. The average diameter of the particles ranged from 300 nm to 1 mu m. Furthermore, the probable mechanism for the formation of Fe3O4 film with octadecahedron morphology was suggested. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.