It is difficult to obtain γ-Fe₂O₃ nanostructures by heating iron substrate in ambient conditions because γ-Fe₂O₃ is less thermodynamically stable than α-Fe₂O₃. In this work, we synthesize γ-Fe₂O₃ nanowires by heating iron particles under an external force. The stacking style of iron and oxygen ions under a strong shearing stress tends to adopt the γ-Fe₂O₃ structure regardless of the thermodynamic restriction. These γ-Fe₂O₃ nanowires exhibit a clear ferromagnetic property. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements confirm that γ-phase structure appears only under the applied external force during the heating period. A window of the magnitude of the external force is found to help the nanowire growth on iron particles. The growth mechanism of γ-Fe₂O₃ nanowires other than α-Fe₂O₃ under the external force is discussed and an applied stress-assisted growth model is proposed. This work presents an easy approach to produce ferromagnetic iron oxide nanowires on a large scale.
Keywords: growth model; maghemite; nanowires; novel phenomena; synthesis.