Synthesis, characterization and growth mechanism of flower-like vanadium carbide hierarchical nanocrystals

Abstract

Novel flower-like vanadium carbide (V₈C₇) hierarchical nanocrystals have been successfully synthesized in a large-scale hydrothermal process using a mixture of diethanolamine (HN(C₂H₄OH)₂, DEA) and V₂O₅ powder. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) and energy-dispersive spectra (EDS). The results showed that flower-like products consist of very thin sheets with an average thickness of 10 nm and the nanosheets were a uniform single-crystalline V₈C₇ phase. It was found that reaction temperature and type of capping molecules have a crucial influence on the morphology of the products. A possible growth mechanism of the flower-like V₈C₇ hierarchical nanocrystals is proposed and discussed.