Micro- and nanostructured layered-kagome zinc orthovanadate BaZn3(VO4)2(OH)2

• Published in: Dalton transactions : an international journal of inorganic chemistry 2023-11, Vol.52 (45), p.16927-16934
• Main Authors: Hadrane, Bachchar, Deniard, Philippe, Gautier, Nicolas, Paris, Michael, Payen, Christophe, Dessapt, Rémi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Absorption spectra; Crystallization; Hydrothermal reactions; Nanoparticles; Nanostructure; NMR spectroscopy; Optical properties; Pressure; Raman spectra; Reagents; Zinc
• ISSN: 1477-9226; 1477-9234
• DOI: 10.1039/d3dt03117a

Pure micro- and nanocrystalline powders of the layered-kagome zinc orthovanadate BaZn3(VO4)2(OH)2 have been successfully prepared and thoroughly characterised. Microstructured samples (BaZn3-MPs) have been produced by hydrothermal reaction using synthetic martyite Zn3V2O7(OH)2·2H2O as the starting reagent. Nanoparticles (NPs) with an average size of ≈ 60 nm (BaZn3-NPs-7h) or ≈ 50 nm (BaZn3-NPs-25min) have been obtained by using a coprecipitation method at ambient pressure, and by varying the stirring time. Rietveld refinements of X-ray diffraction data indicate that micro- and nanostructured BaZn3(VO4)2(OH)2 both crystallize in a R3m structure very similar to that of the known layered-kagome compound BaCo3(VO4)2(OH)2. Transmission electron microscopy observation of BaZn3-NPs-7h and BaZn3-NPs-25min reveals crystallized NPs with homogenous distributions of Ba, Zn, and V elements. FT-IR and Raman spectra show subtle differences between micro- and nanostructured samples which cannot be linked to any differences in the average crystal structures. The high resolution 51V MAS NMR spectrum of BaZn3-MPs shows a single isotropic line attributed to VO43− groups with C3v point group. The spectra of the nanostructured samples reveal the presence of a weak additional signal which decreases in intensity with increasing the NPs size, and which has been tentatively assigned to the presence at the surface of the NPs of a small amount of V5+ ions in a different chemical environment. Nanostructuring also impacts the optical properties of BaZn3(VO4)2(OH)2. The UV-vis absorption spectra of NPs exhibit an additional weak transition in the visible domain which is not observed for the microstructured sample.