Hydrothermal synthesis of alpha-Fe2O3 nanorods prepared by a new and a fast route

We have described a very fast approach for the formation of alpha-Fe2O3 nanorods by a simple reaction of iron with water at very low temperature of 190 degrees C. It is shown that the nanorods have diameters ranging from 70-120nm and their typical lengths are in micrometers. The initial formation and subsequent growth of alpha-Fe2O3 nanostructures may be explained by the iron metal corrosion mechanism. There are other different existing approaches which were applied for the synthesis of iron oxide nanostructures, but most of the methods involve environmentally malignant chemicals and organic solvents which were toxic and not easily degraded in the environment. Compared with others, the reported method is fast, economical, environmentally benign and free of pollution, which will make it suitable for large scale production.