Morphology-controlled synthesis of α-Fe₂O₃ nanostructures with magnetic property and excellent electrocatalytic activity for H₂O₂

α-Fe₂O₃ nanocrystals (NCs) with different morphologies are successfully synthesized via a facile template-free hydrothermal route. By simply changing the volume ratio of ethanol to water, we obtained three different α-Fe₂O₃ nanostructures of rhombohedra, truncated rhombohedra and hexagonal sheet. The morphologies and structures of the as-obtained products have been confirmed by varieties of characterizations such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The influences of the experimental conditions, such as the amount of NaOH and reaction temperature on the morphologies of the as-prepared α-Fe₂O₃ NCs, have been well investigated. Additionally, magnetic investigations show that the as-obtained α-Fe₂O₃ nanostructures show structure-dependent magnetic properties. Furthermore, the electrochemical experiments indicate that the as-prepared α-Fe₂O₃ hexagonal sheets exhibit strong electrocatalytic reduction activity for H₂O₂.