A VO-seeded approach for the growth of star-shaped VO2 and V2O5nanocrystals: facile synthesis, structural characterization, and elucidation of electronic structure

Abstract

Obtaining shape and size control of strongly correlated materials is imperative to obtain a fundamental understanding of the influence of finite size and surface restructuring on electronic instabilities in the proximity of the Fermi level. We present here a novel synthetic approach that takes advantage of the intrinsic octahedral symmetry of rock-salt-structured VO to facilitate the growth of six-armed nanocrystallites of related, technologically important binary vanadium oxides VO₂ and V₂O₅. The prepared nanostructures exhibit clear six-fold symmetry and most notably show remarkable retention of electronic structure. The latter has been evidenced through extensive X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements.