Preparation and characterization of beta-FeOOH nanowires

beta-FeOOH nanowires were synthesized via hydrolysis of iron(III) salts under room temperature. The morphology and structure were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and selected area electron diffraction. The results showed that the nanowires were tetragonal lattice with the diameter of about 60 nm and the length of 4 similar to 5 gm respectively, and grew along [001] axis. It was found that the concentration of FeCl3 solution could extremely affect the growth of beta-FeOOH nanowires and only under appropriate concentration high quality nanowires could be obtained.