Hydrothermal deposition of small alpha-Fe2O3 (hematite) particles on ordered zirconium phosphonate multilayer SAMs on gold

We present the use of self-assembled monolayers of Zr-phosphonate multilaye rs (bilayers in terms of metal atoms) as substrates for the heterogeneous n ucleation of hematite under hydrothermal conditions. The phosphonate multil ayers display high (hydro) thermal stability which we establish beforehand. The films of the hematite nanoparticles have been characterised using tech niques including atomic force microscopy and Mossbauer spectroscopy in refl ection. This latter technique shows up the effect of the small particle siz es of the hematite particles on the nature of the magnetic ordering.