Surface photovoltage property of magnesium ferrite/hematite heterostructured hollow nanospheres prepared with one-pot strategy

Magnesium ferrite/hematite heterostructured hollow nanospheres were successfully fabricated via a facile solvothermal method. The products were well characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV–vis absorption spectroscopy and surface photovoltage spectroscopy. From the absorption edge in the UV–vis absorption spectrum of MgFe2O4/α-Fe2O3 hollow nanospheres, an optical band-gap energy of about 1.986 eV was estimated. Furthermore, it was observed that the heterostructured hollow nanospheres presented a remarkable surface photovoltage response in UV and visible spectral region, which was attributed to the effective formation of chemical interface between the two crystalline phases of MgFe2O4 and α-Fe2O3.