A novel synthesis of α-MoO3 nanobelts and the characterization

• Published in: Journal of alloys and compounds 2014-02, Vol.585, p.535-541
• Main Authors: Chiang, Tzu Hsuan, Yeh, Hung Che
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alloys; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Ethylene glycol; Exact sciences and technology; Materials science; Methods of nanofabrication; Molybdenum trioxide; Nanobelts; Nanoscale materials: clusters, nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanocrystals; Nanostructure; Physics; Reaction time; Scanning electron microscopy; Sintering; Sintering time; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; X-rays
• ISSN: 0925-8388; 1873-4669
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2013.09.137

[Display omitted] •This work provided a novel method for the fabrication of α-MoO3 nanobelts.•A growth mechanism associated with the formation of α-MoO3 nanobelts.•The thickness of the α-MoO3 belts decreased as the sintering time increased.•The crystallite size of sintered α-MoO3 belts increased with increases of sintering time. This study investigated the reaction of ethylene glycol with ammonium molybdate tetrahydrate that the reaction product had the structural characteristics of α-MoO3 (molybdenum trioxide) nanobelts. This work provided a novel and effective method for the fabrication of high-quality α-MoO3 nanobelts. The initial reaction was very simple, only requiring reaction at reaction time of 40min at 120°C to form MoO3·H2O, which was then converted to α-MoO3 by sintering at 300°C for 1h. The α-MoO3 nanobelts were formed at a sintering temperature of 700°C for 3h. The structure and morphology of the α-MoO3 nanobelts were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The α-MoO3 nanobelts that were obtained after sintering at 700°C for 3h were 99nm thick, 500μm length and had an average width of 10μm. The (020), (040), (060), and (0100) planes were observed in XRD, implying that the α-MoO3 nanobelts grew with a strongly-preferred orientation.