Facile Synthesis of Phase Tunable MoO₃ Nanostructures and Their Electrochemical Sensing Properties.

Abstract

MoO₃ nanostructures with tunable phases such as α-MoO₃, β-MoO₃ and their mixed phases were synthesized via a simple solid state decomposition method and employed as electrocatalyst for the detection of biomolecule. The phase and crystal structure of the synthesized MoO₃ nanostructures were confirmed through X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. The MoO₃ nanostructures were also characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV-Vis spectroscopy for their structural, chemical state and optical properties, respectively. The observed results confirmed the successful formation of phase tunable MoO₃ nanostructures. The surface texture and morphology of the samples was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The obtained images showed the formation of hexagons, cubes and rods morphology of MoO₃. The synthesized MoO₃ nanostructures were used to modify the surface of glassy carbon electrode (GCE) to detect biomolecule (quercetin).