Forced hydrolysis of FeCl3 solutions in the presence of guanylurea phosphate

The effects of guanylurea phosphate on the properties of precipitates formed by forced hydrolysis of FeCl3 solutions were investigated using a combination of XRD, 57Fe Mössbauer, FT-IR and FE SEM analyses. Samples were prepared at 160 °C by varying the concentration of FeCl3 solutions and the amount of guanylurea phosphate added. This study showed that this simple method can be used to prepare giniite (Fe5(PO4)4(OH)3‧2 H2O) as a single phase with a variety of particle shapes. Three main phases, giniite, akaganeite (β-FeOOH) and hematite (α-Fe2O3), were obtained, where the exact phase composition of precipitates depended on the chemical conditions in the starting solutions. The optimum conditions for the formation of different dendritic nano/microstructures were 2‧10−3 and 5‧10−3 M FeCl3 solutions containing guanylurea phosphate. This proposed method of giniite synthesis has potential in the further investigation of the formation nature of dendritic nano/microstructures.