A new one-step synthesis method for coating multi-walled carbon nanotubes with iron oxide nanorods

A facile solution-chemical method has been developed to be capable of covering a multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNTs) with iron oxide nanorods without using any bridging species. MWNTs in this composite were decorated randomly by alpha-Fe2O3 nanorods with diameters in the range of 3-5 nm and lengths of 15-30 nm. The formation route to anchor alpha-Fe2O3 nanorods onto MWNTs was proposed as the intercalation and adsorption of iron ions onto the wall of MWNTs, followed by the nucleation and growth of alpha-Fe2O3 nanorods. alpha-Fe2O3/MWNTs nanocomposites show specific high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface areas. The photocatalytic activity experiment indicated that the prepared alpha-Fe2O3/MWNTs nanocomposites exhibited a higher photocatalytic activity for the photocatalytic decolorization of rhodamine B aqueous solution under the visible-light illumination than the single phase alpha-Fe2O3 samples. This methodology made the synthesis of MWNTs-nanorods composites possible and may be further extended to prepare more complicated nanocomposites based on MWNTs for technological applications.