Abstract

The xTiO2-(1−x)α-Fe2O3 ceramic nanoparticles system has been obtained by mechanochemical activation for x = 0.1 and 0.5 and for ball milling times ranging from 2 to 12 hours. Structural and morphological characteristics of the anatase-doped hematite system were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Mössbauer spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) combined with electron diffraction (ED). In the XRD patterns, we could evidence the dissolution of anatase in hematite, more pronounced for x = 0.1. The Rietveld structure of the XRD patterns yielded the dependence of the particle size and lattice constants on the amount x of Ti substitutions and as function of the ball milling time. For x = 0.1, we observed line broadening of the Mössbauer resonances and corresponding fit with several subspectra. For x = 0.5, it can be observed that the central doublet corresponding to superparamagnetic particles becomes more prominent. The ball milling route allowed us to reach nanometric particle dimensions, which would make the materials very promising for catalytic and gas sensing applications.