Facile synthesis and optical properties of Prussian Blue microcubes and hollow Fe2O3 microboxes

In this paper, we report a novel strategy for the synthesis of Prussian Blue microcubes via hydrothermal conditions by using K3[Fe(CN)6] and glucose for the first time, and then hollow Fe2O3 microboxes have been successfully fabricated by calcination from a Prussian Blue microcube precursors. The phase structures and morphologies were studied using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) with selected area electron diffraction (SAED). The results depict that highly pure and single crystalline monodisperse hollow Fe2O3 microboxes are successfully obtained, which have a diameter ranging from 3 to 5 μm. The optical properties of the Prussian Blue microcubes and hollow Fe2O3 microboxes were observed by photoluminescence spectra.