화학공학소재연구정보센터
Inorganic Chemistry, Vol.59, No.7, 4357-4365, 2020
Modulating the Structure and Magnetic Properties of epsilon-Fe2O3 Nanoparticles via Electrochemical Li+ Insertion
epsilon-Fe2O3, a metastable phase of iron oxide, is widely known as a room-temperature multiferroic material or as a superhard magnet. Element substitution into epsilon-Fe2O3 has been reported in the literature; however, the substituted ions have a strong site preference depending on their ionic radii and valence. In this study, in order to characterize the crystal structure and magnetic properties of epsilon-Fe2O3 in the Fe2+/Fe3+ coexisting states, Li+ was electrochemically inserted into epsilon-Fe2O3 to reduce Fe3+. The discharge and charge of Li+ into/from epsilon-Fe2O3 revealed that Li+ insertion was successful. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism results indicated that the reduced Fe did not exhibit site preference. Increasing the Li+ content in epsilon-Fe2O3 resulted in decreased saturation magnetization and irregular variation of the coercive field. We present a comprehensive discussion of how magnetic properties are modified with increasing Li+ content using transmission electron microscopy images and considering the L+ diffusion coefficient. The results suggest that inserting L+ into crystalline epsilon-Fe2O3 is a useful tool for characterizing crystal structure, lithiation limit, and magnetic properties in the coexistence of Fe2+/Fe3+.