Facile synthesis of vanadium oxide nanowires

Abstract

A simple growth process is reported for the synthesis of vanadium (II) oxide nanowires with an average width of 65 nm and up to 5 μm in length for growth at 1000 °C for 3 h. The vanadium (II) oxide nanowires were grown on a gold-coated silicon substrate at ambient pressure using a single heat zone furnace with Ar as the carrier gas. Gold was utilized as a catalyst for the growth of the nanowires. The growth temperature and heating time were varied to observe the nanowire morphology. An increase in nanowire width was observed with an increase in the heating temperature. A ninefold increase in the number density of the nanowires was observed when the heating time was changed from 30 min to 3 h. This is the first time a simple growth process for producing VO nanowires at ambient pressure has been demonstrated. Such a scheme enables wider use of VO nanowires in critical applications such as energy storage, gas sensors, and optical devices.