Structure and Photoluminescence Properties of Thermally Synthesized V(2)O(5) and Al-Doped V(2)O(5) Nanostructures

Al-free and Al-doped V(2)O(5) nanostructures were synthesized by a thermal-chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process on Si(100) at 850 °C under 1.2 × 10(−1) Torr via a vapor-solid (V-S) mechanism. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) confirmed a typical orthorhombic V(2)O(5) with the growth direction along [110]-direction of both nanostructures. Metallic Al, rather than Al(3+)-ion, was detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), affected the V(2)O(5) crystallinity. The photoluminescence intensity of V(2)O(5) nanostructure at 1.77 and 1.94 eV decreased with the increasing Al-dopant by about 61.6% and 59.9%, attributing to the metallic Al intercalated between the V(2)O(5)-layers and/or filled in the oxygen vacancies, which behaved as electron sinks. Thus the Al-doped V(2)O(5) nanostructure shows the potential applications in smart windows and the electrodic material in a Li-ion battery.