Magnetic properties of epsilon iron(III) oxide nanorod arrays functionalized with gold and copper(II) oxide

A sequential chemical vapor deposition (CVD) - radio frequency (RF)-sputtering approach was adopted tofabricate supported nanocomposites based on the scarcely investigated epsilon-iron(III) oxide polymorph. In particular,epsilon-Fe2O3 nanorod arrays were obtained by CVD, and their subsequent functionalization with Au andCuO nanoparticles (NPs) was carried out by RF-sputtering under mild operational conditions. Apart from amulti-technique characterization of material structure, morphology and chemical composition, particular effortswere dedicated to the investigation of their magnetic properties. The pertaining experimental data, discussedin relation to the system chemico-physical characteristics, are directly dependent on the actual chemicalcomposition, as well as on the spatial distribution of Au and CuO nanoparticles. The approach adoptedherein can be further implemented to control and tailor different morphologies and phase compositions of ironoxide-based nanomaterials, meeting thus the open requests of a variety of technological utilizations.