Growth of α-V2O5 nanostructured thin films as a function of deposition process

Abstract

In this communication, we synthesizedvanadium pentoxide (α-V2O5) nanostructured thin films (NSTs) using four different methods for obtaining vanadate species namely thermal evaporation (source of vanadate species are V2O5 powder and vanadium metal foil) and plasma assisted sublimation process (source of vanadate species are V2O5 powder and vanadium metal foil). The effect of plasmaon morphological and structural propertieshave been systematicallystudied. XRD revealed thermal evaporation process yielded amorphous films whereassublimation process yielded highly crystalline α-V2O5 films. HRTEM of nanobelts show, the growth is preferred in (001) crystallographic direction with interplanar distance of 0.43 nm. XPS revealed O/V ratio of ~2.4, which nearly agrees with standard V2O5 stoichiometry. SEM revealed deposition process affect morphology of films; thermal evaporation results in smoother film while plasma assisted sublimation process reveals nanoflakes and nanobelts (NBs). All the results are inconcordance with each other.