Synthesis and Characterization of Fe2O3 Doped Graphene by Co-precipitation Method

One way to enhance the physical properties of Fe
₂
O
₃
is by graphene doping. In this research, the synthesis of Fe
₂
O
₃
doped graphene involved various treatments, i.e. non-sintering, sintering at 600°C for 1 hour, and sintering at 700°C for 1 hour. The phase identification results suggested that single-phase Fe
₂
O
₃
doped graphene could be obtained without sintering and the smallest diameter generated was 70.19 nm. The morphology characterization showed that all the three materials had a particle size of less than 100 nm, but the non-sintered material was the most favorable one due to its homogeneous nanospheres. The FTIR spectrum shows the presence of O-H, C-H, CO
₂
, C-O, C-N, and CH
₂
groups. The non-sintered Fe
₂
O
₃
doped graphene had the highest peak at 3307.92 cm
^-1
, and the O-H group appeared. The Fe
₂
O
₃
doped graphene sintered at 600°C for 1 hour had the highest peak at 3410.33 cm
^-1
, and the O-H group appeared. The Fe
₂
O
₃
doped graphene sintered at 700°C for 1 hour had the highest peak at 3410.33 cm
^-1
, and the O-H group appeared. The C=C peak was around 1500-1600 cm
^-1
, while the C-O-C peak was around 1230-1320 cm
^-1
. Taken together, the synthesis of Fe
₂
O
₃
doped graphene using a simple co-precipitation method could produce a single-phase material without sintering.