Facile synthesis and electrochemical properties of FeO/Fe(OH)3 nanosheets

[Display omitted] •Iron oxide/ hydroxide nanosheets were prepared using a surfactant-assisted method.•The nanosheets were polycrystalline with good stability.•Iron hydroxide in the nanosheets transformed to iron oxide upon annealing.•The formation of iron oxyhydroxide critically affected the electrochemical properties. Iron oxides and hydroxides, including Fe(OH)3 and Fe(OH)2, exhibit diverse morphologies and compositions. Nanostructures of Fe(OH)3 such as nanosheets are non-toxic and offer multiple active sites that are advantageous for catalysis. We synthesized iron oxide/iron hydroxide (FeO/Fe(OH)3) nanosheets using a surfactant-assisted method and analyzed their structure and composition. Their phase transition to iron oxyhydroxides/oxides via heat treatment were also analyzed. The formation of FeOOH, which catalyzes the oxygen evolution reaction, significantly affected the electrochemical properties. We report the morphological and crystallographic characteristics of the as-synthesized and annealed FeO/Fe(OH)3 nanosheets, highlighting the influence of specific species on their electrochemical behavior. The proposed approach is simple and efficient for the synthesis of highly crystalline transition metal oxide nanosheets using different cation precursors.