Effect of process parameters on the phase transition property of molybdenum-doped vanadium dioxide nanorods

In the present study, we report a facile, low-cost and scalable hydrothermal technique to synthesize Mo-doped vanadium dioxide nanoparticles. The effects of Mo-doping and hydrothermal reaction time on the phase transition properties of 1-D vanadium dioxide nanoparticles were investigated. X-ray diffraction patterns of the sample show a decrease in intensity and slight shift of the peaks towards lower 2-theta with increasing dopant concentration. Moreover, increased hydrothermal reaction time from 6, 12, 24, 48 h shows formation of smaller crystalline nanoparticles with increasing reaction time. The presence of Mo in the vanadium dioxide lattice structure was confirmed by X-ray energy-dispersive spectrometer. From differential scanning calorimetry studies, change in temperature (∆T) between the endothermic and exothermic peaks decreases with increasing dopant concentration from about 15 °C at 0.5 at.% doping to 8.5 °C at 2.5 at.% doping level. The results, in general, reveal that the as-prepared Mo-doped vanadium dioxide nanorods exhibit high purity and crystallinity and are best candidate nanostructured materials for smart switching applications such as thermochromic windows.