A novel synthesis of α-MoO3 nanobelts and the characterization

This study investigated the reaction of ethylene glycol with ammonium molybdate tetrahydrate that the reaction product had the structural characteristics of alpha-MoO3 (molybdenum trioxide) nanobelts. This work provided a novel and effective method for the fabrication of high-quality alpha-MoO3 nanobelts. The initial reaction was very simple, only requiring reaction at reaction time of 40 min at 120 degrees C to form MoO3 center dot H2O, which was then converted to alpha-MoO3 by sintering at 300 degrees C for 1 h. The alpha-MoO3 nanobelts were formed at a sintering temperature of 700 degrees C for 3 h. The structure and morphology of the alpha-MoO3 nanobelts were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The alpha-MoO3 nanobelts that were obtained after sintering at 700 degrees C for 3 h were 99 nm thick, 500 mu m length and had an average width of 10 mu m. The (020), (040), (060), and (0100) planes were observed in XRD, implying that the alpha-MoO3 nanobelts grew with a strongly-preferred orientation. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.