Molybdenum Oxide Nanoparticle Aggregates Grown by Chemical Vapor Transport

Abstract

In this study, the advanced chemical vapor transport (CVT) method in combination with the quenching effect is introduced for creating molybdenum oxide nanoparticle arrays, composed of the hierarchical structure of fine nanoparticles (NPs), which are vertically grown with a homogeneous coverage on the individual carbon fibers of carbon fiber paper (CFP) substrates. The obtained molybdenum oxide NPs hold a metastable high-temperature γ-Mo4O11 phase along with a stable α-MoO3 phase by the quenching effect. Furthermore, such a quenching effect forms thinner and smaller nanoparticle aggregates by suppressing the growth and coalescence of primary particles. The molybdenum oxide nanoparticle aggregates are prepared using two different types of precursors: MoO3 and a 1:1 (mol/mol) mixture of MoO3 and activated carbon. The results characterized using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy show that the relative amount of α-MoO3 to γ-Mo4O11 within the prepared NPs is dependent on the precursor type; a lower amount of α-MoO3 to γ-Mo4O11 is obtained in the NPs prepared using the mixed precursor of MoO3 and carbon. This processing–structure landscape study can serve as the groundwork for the development of high-performance nanomaterials in various electronic and catalytic applications.