Fast Synthesis of Vanadium Oxide Nanotubes
Researchers
Associate Prof. Azizan Aziz (Contact details available to registered journalists)
Cervera
Introduction
Nanotubes belong to a promising group of nanomaterials, the building blocks of nanotechnology. They are single phase or multiphase polycrystals with a typical crystallite size of 1 to 100 nm in at least one dimension. The interest in these nanoscale objects is due to the exhibition of novel electronic, optical, magnetic, transport, photochemical, electrochemical, catalytic and mechanical behaviour depending on composition, size and shape of the particles. Vanadium oxide nanotubes are one of these exciting materials and has high promise as catalyst material and template for making nano-pored polymer membrane because of easy recovery and recyclability.
Our process
Currently Vanadium oxide nanotubes are produced using soft chemistry route from vanadium alkoxides and primary amines followed by hydrothermal treatment. But this is an expensive synthesis route. Other alternative routes use VOCl3, V2O5 or HVO3 as vanadium sources. We have developed a faster and cheaper process. In this process vanadium oxide nanotubes are produced via gelation of V2O5 followed by 2 days of hydrothermal treatment using alcohol as solvent. The present process takes 7 days of hydrothermal treatment.
Applications
Vanadium oxides nanotubes are important in technological applications such a catalysts for oxidation-reduction reactions, semiconductors, optical devices and coatings.