Synthesis of molybdenum oxide hollow microspheres by ethanol and PEG assisting hydrothermal process

Molybdenum oxide hollow microspheres were successfully synthesized via a combination of a hydrothermal method with ethanol and PEG assisting technique. The as-obtained products were characterized by SEM, XRD. The SEM results showed that the sizes of molybdenum oxide hollow spheres were 1-2 μm, and the spherical shape of the hollow microsphere products remained almost unaltered after calcination at 500 °C for 2 h. The XRD results showed that a purity phase of α-MoO3 could be obtained after calcination. It was also found that the reaction temperature played a key role in the formation of hollow microshphere structure. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.