Description

• General description: Iron(III) citrate technical grade is a brown to dark orangepowder. It is soluble in water, but insoluble in most organics includingalcohols. The powder is sensitive to light; like many iron carboxylates, bluelight photo-reduces iron(III) citrate, forming the Fe2+ ion andconcomitantly oxidizing the carboxyl group to yield carbon dioxide. Iron(III)citrate thermally decomposes to α-Fe2O3 at 460 °C.
• Application: Iron(III) citrate is a synthetic precursor for iron-containing compounds. It is commonly used to prepare Fe3O4 nanoparticles or Fe3O4-nanocomposites by hydrothermal methods[1] and Fe2O3 materials by thermal decomposition and sol-gel processing.[2] Iron(III) citrate is well-suited to sol-gel processing because of its high solubility in water and low solubility inorganic phases. Consequently, iron(III) citrate is an important precursor in the synthesis of iron-doped and iron-containing metal oxides studied for lithium-ion battery cathodes.[3]It can also be used in the degradation of tetracycline for the treatment of polluted water.