Thermal decomposition of some metal-organic precursors

In this paper we present a study on the synthesis of Fe(III) oxide, by thermal decomposition of some complex combinations of Fe(III) with carboxylate type ligands, obtained in the redox reaction between some polyols (ethylene glycol (EG), 1,2-propane diol (1,2PG), 1,3-propane diol (1,3PG) and glycerol (GL)) and NO3 ions (from ferric nitrate). Fe2O3 was obtained by thermal decomposition of the synthesized metal-organic precursors at low temperatures. gamma-Fe2O3 was obtained as nanoparticles at 300 deg C, while at higher temperatures alpha-Fe2O3 starts to crystallize and becomes single phase at ~500 deg C.