TEA-assisted synthesis of single-crystalline Mn3O4 octahedrons and their magnetic properties

Well-defined Mn3O4 octahedrons were synthesized by a facile triethanolamine (TEA)-assisted route under mild hydrothermal conditions. The chemical compositions and morphologies of the as-prepared samples were characterized in detail by power X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The possible reaction mechanism and growth mechanism was discussed to elucidate the formation of the single-crystalline Mn3O4 octahedrons. The amounts of TEA and NaOH played important roles in controlling the morphology of the final products. Besides, the magnetic property was tested by a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and the as-obtained sample exhibit ferrimagnetic behavior at low temperature and normal paramagnetic behavior at room temperature. The method can be easily controlled and expected to be applicable for the large-scale preparation of the Mn3O4 octahedrons. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.