Self-assembly of red-blood-cell-like (NH₄)[Fe₂(OH)(PO₄)₂]·2H₂O architectures from 2D nanoplates by sonochemical method

Red-blood-cell-like (RBC-like) (NH₄)[Fe₂(OH)(PO₄)₂]·2H₂O architectures assembled from 2D nanoplates are successfully synthesized via a facile sonochemical method. XRD measurement indicates that the as-prepared sample is well crystallized with a monoclinic structure. The morphology of the sample is characterized by SEM analysis, which shows that the (NH₄)[Fe₂(OH)(PO₄)₂]·2H₂O particles exhibit a unique biconcave red blood cell morphology with an average diameter of 4um and thickness of 1.5um. The detailed time-dependent experiments are conducted to investigate the morphological evolution process. It reveals that the ultrasonic time is crucial to the morphology of the products, and the RBC-like (NH₄)[Fe₂(OH)(PO₄)₂]·2H₂O proceeds in steps of crystallization, formation of thin plates, and the subsequent self-assembly. Compared to the available methods that are typically time-consuming and complicated, this smart sonochemical strategy proposed herein is efficient and simple. Moreover, these obtained special RBC-like architectures will be more fascinating for application in many areas.