Synthesis and Structural Characterization of Monocrystalline a V2O5 Nanowires
A stable one dimensional system in an orthorhombic a V2O5 nanowires monocrystalline structure was obtained by a solvothermal method from a polymorphic V2O5 structure. The starting material was firstly submitted to acid hydrolysis in H2O2 followed by a solvothermal treatment. The outcome of this procedure, a metastable phase of the one dimensional system V10O24*12H2O/V3O7*H2O, was subsequently reoxidized by controlled heating in an open air system. The final product was an orange crystalline solid mainly formed by monocrystalline nanowires of a V2O5 having lengths of tens of micrometers and widths of about 75 nm with a preferential [200] growth direction. It was found that the pH value of the initial solution plays an important role in the formation of the crystalline phase in the final products. Characterization was performed by X ray diffraction (XRD) scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) This study offers an alternate route for the synthesis of vanadium oxides and related compounds.