Publication
Names
  • N. Pailhé
  • A. Wattiaux
  • M. Gaudon
  • A. Demourgues
Title
Impact of structural features on pigment properties of α-Fe2O3 haematite
Abstract
Various α-Fe$_2$O$_3$ haematite samples were synthesized by precipitation routes (under standard or hydrothermal conditions) followed by thermal treatments under air. The trigonal distortion (C$_3$$_v$ point group) of the Fe$^{3+}$ octahedral sites, which depends on the synthesis route and thermal treatment, was investigated by X-ray diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy and visible-near infrared (Vis-NIR) spectroscopy. The correlation between diffuse reflectance spectra and structural features of the haematite samples is reported and discussed herein. The slight increase of the average distortion of the Fe$^{3+}$ octahedral sites, which depends on the annealing temperature of the precipitated sample, directly linked to the crystallite size, contrasts with the larger reduction of the sites distortion for the compound prepared by hydrothermal route due to the occurrence of hydroxyl groups substituted for O$^{2-}$ anions as well as Fe$^{3+}$ cationic vacancies. On a local point of view, as shown by Mössbauer spectroscopy, the Fe$^{3+}$ octahedral sites distortion decreases from the centre towards the surface of the grains. Then the smaller the grain size, the lower the average site distortion. Finally, the reduction of the octahedral distortion was directly correlated to the two Fe sbnd O charge transfer bands in the visible range and the colour of as-prepared haematites.
Keywords
Visible spectroscopy, reflectance spectra, band position, band transition energy, visible, near-IR, minerals, Fe2O3, hematite
Content
spectral data, band list data, experimental physics
Year
2008
Journal
Journal of Solid State Chemistry
Volume
181
Number
10
Pages
2697 - 2704
Document type
article
Publication state
published