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.