Abstract: α-Fe₂O₃ with spindle or hexagonal morphologies were prepared by hydrothermal method, we investigated the photocatalytic properties of methyl orange and rhodamine B under visible light irradiation. The results show that all samples are rhombohedral phase of hematite with uniform sizes. The energy gap of hexagonal α-Fe₂O₃ is less than that of spindle α-Fe₂O₃,meaning that it can absorb visible light with larger wavelength range. The hexagonal α-Fe₂O₃ has higher degradation rate and degradation rate constant, and has higher photocatalytic activity.

Key words: iron oxide, spindle morphology, hexagon morphology, energy gap, dye degradation