Ultrathin α-Fe ₂O ₃ Nanoribbons and their moiré patterns

Ultrathin α-Fe 2O 3 nanoribbons several tens of nanometers in thickness were synthesized by heating iron foils under atmospheric conditions. Our result indicates that the growth rate of the crystal planes of these α-Fe 2O 3 nanostructures follows {110} > {104} {2̄10}. Moiré patterns with different periodicities were observed due to the misorientations between the nanoribbons. Because of the finite size effect, the Morin temperature of the α-Fe 2O 3 nanoribbons with a thickness of 10 nm is reduced from 264 K of the bulk phase to only 42 K. © 2012 American Chemical Society.