Facile synthesis of uniform α-Fe2O3 crystals and their facet-dependent catalytic performance in the photo-Fenton reaction

Rhombohedron-shaped α-Fe2O3 crystals with exposed {0001} and {100} facets and truncated dodecahedron-like crystals with predominant {102} facets were synthesized via a facile and green hydrothermal method. These nanocrystals have similar sizes and BET surface areas. The crystals in shape of truncated dodecahedrons exhibited superior photocatalytic performance to that of the rhombohedron-shaped crystals. This observation may be attributable to the higher density of surface Fe ions on the {102} facet compared to that of the {0001} and {100} facets.