Filamentary iron nanostructures from laser-induced pyrolysis of iron pentacarbonyl and ethylene mixtures

In this work, we present results of the synthesis and characterization of i ron and iron oxide nanoparticles aggregated in filamentary, spider-web-like structures. The particles were produced in a flow reactor by CO2 laser pyr olysis of gaseous mixtures of iron pentacarbonyl and ethylene. Low- and hig h-resolution electron microscopy reveals chain-like structures of particles , most of them being composed of an a-iron core and an iron oxide shell, id entified as magnetite and, to a lesser extent, hematite. These results are in good agreement with a Mossbauer analysis carried out for the same sample s. The role of the reaction temperature on the synthesis of filamentary iro n nanostructures by infrared laser pyrolysis of Fe(CO)(5)/C2H4 mixtures is discussed.