A simple method for fabricating single-crystalline Fe nanowires

This work reports a simple and environmental friendly approach for the fabrication of Fe nanowires under normal pressure and low temperature in the absence of any inorganic or organic templates, substrate, surfactant, external field or magnetic field. This approach involved the production of Fe(OH)₃/NaCl by mechanically milling a mixture of Fe(OH)₃ and NaCl, and the reduction of Fe(OH)₃/NaCl to Fe nanowires. The as-prepared product (Fe/NaCl) and the Fe nanowires obtained by dissolving the NaCl from Fe/NaCl were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and vibrating sample magnetometer. The results showed that the Fe nanowires are about 10-100 nm in diameter and 8-16 μm in length and their saturation magnetization (M_s) and coercivity (H_c) values are 145 emu/g and 206 Oe, respectively.