Synthesis and Characterization of V2O5 Nanorods Using Hydrothermal Method for Energy Application

Background: Nanomaterials are very useful in energy harvesting and energy storage devices. Morphological features play a vital role in energy storage devices. Supercapacitors and batteries are examples of energy storage devices. The working of a supercapacitor is decided by the nature of the microstructure and other features of the electrode material. Vanadium Pentaoxide (V2O5) is one of the promising materials due to its attractive features, such as band gap, multiple oxidation state, and large conductivity transition from semiconducting to conducting domain. Objective: This study aimed to perform the tuning of structural, optical and morphological properties of V2O5 nanomaterials using the hydrothermal method. Methods: A low-cost hydrothermal method was used in this work. Hydrothermal synthesis was carried out at different concentrations of Ammonium Metavanadate (NH4VO3), varying from 0.06 M, 0.08 M, and 0.1 M in the aqueous medium. Moreover, the pH of the solution was maintained at 4 using drop-wise addition of H2SO4. Hydrothermal synthesis was carried out at 160°C for 24 hours. The synthesized precipitate was annealed at 700°C for 7 hours in ambient air. Structural, optical, morphological, and elemental probing was carried out. Results: XRD revealed the formation of monoclinic crystalline phase formation of V2O5. Crystallite size increased with an increase in the concentration of vanadium precursor. The band gap obtained using UV-Vis spectroscopy decreased upon an increase in concentration. SEM micrographs displayed nanosheet and nanorod-like distorted morphology. The presence of vanadium and oxygen was noticed in the EDS study. Conclusion: Nanoparticles with attractive features are very useful as an electrode material for supercapacitors. Upon changing concentration, we can change the band gap of the material, adding an extra edge in the use of these materials.