Hydrothermal synthesis of potassium molybdenum oxide bronzes: structure-inheriting solid-state route to blue bronze and dissolution/deposition route to red bronze

Abstract

The hydrothermal syntheses of the alkali metal molybdenum bronzes from starting solids (H x MoO 3) with structural affinities to the desired products were investigated. Single-phase potassium blue and red bronzes were prepared by the hydrothermal treatments at around 430 K, and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, IR spectroscopy, and SEM. The formation processes of these two bronzes during the hydrothermal treatments were found to differ. The blue bronze was formed by a structure-inheriting solid-state route from H x MoO 3 with x < 0.3 , whereas the red bronze was formed for x > 0.3 through a solution dissolution/deposition route via the formation of MoO 3+MoO 2.