Morphology-controllable synthesis of tetragonal LaVO4nanostructures

Abstract

Nanostructured tetragonal LaVO₄ with sheaf-like and prickly spherical morphologies has been hydrothermally synthesized with the assistance of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). In the hydrothermal process, EDTA not only acts as a chelating reagent to facilitate the formation of t-LaVO₄, but also acts as a surface capping agent to adhere to the newly created surface and to promote the crystal splitting. t-LaVO₄ nanostructures with different morphologies can be achieved by adjusting the molar ratio of EDTA/La³⁺, the concentration of La³⁺, and the total volume of the reaction mixture, which result in the change of the crystal growth rate. Nanostructured Eu³⁺-doped t-LaVO₄ was also synthesized and showed intense red emission under near UV-light excitation.