Hydrothermal synthesis and magnetic properties of α-MnO2 nanowires

In the present study, one-dimensional (1D) α-MnO2 nanowires with width of 50–60 nm, length about several micrometers have been successfully prepared under hydrothermal conditions in the presence of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, superconducting quantum interference device and N2 adsorption–desorption experiment. The magnetic measurement reveals that the α-MnO2 nanowires exhibit a ferromagnetic behavior at 5 K and a paramagnetic behavior at 300 K. The N2 adsorption–desorption experiment shows that surface area is 160.4 m2 g−1, which is even larger than those of mesoporous nanostructures. At the same time, the possible formation mechanism for the formation of α-MnO2 nanowires has been proposed according to the experimental results.