Structural, Optical and Magnetic Properties of α-Fe2O3 Nanoparticles

High purity Iron oxide (α-Fe2O3) powder was grinded for 16 hours using mechanical milling and studied for its physical properties. The micro structures, crystallite size of the nanoparticles were examined using X-ray diffractrometer (XRD). From this it was found that the particles were in rhombohedral structure with average crystallite size of 39 nm. The optical absorbance and reflectance spectra were recorded using UV–Vis-NIR spectrophotometer in the wavelength range of 200 – 2500 nm. From this it was found that the optical band gap of the nanoparticles as 2.08 eV. The magnetic measurements were carried out using vibrating sample magnetometer at 100 K. From the magnetic studies it was found that the magnetic moment of the nanoparticles increased with increase of applied field and saturation was not observed even at high applied magnetic fields.