ABSTRACTMorphology control is a key challenge in the straightforward hydrothermal production of technologically relevant anisotropic oxide materials. The use of readily available ionic additives as growth modifiers is discussed and compared for molybdenum- and tungsten oxide-based systems, and it is extended upon the formation of ternary W/Mo-oxides. Generally, the one-step hydrothermal synthesis of ternary and higher oxides is an important goal, because their properties often outperform those of the binary oxides. This holds especially for the Bi2O3-MoO3-VOx (BIMOVOx) system as a rich source of new materials. We present a new solution-based approach to α-Bi2O3 nanobelts starting from commercial Bi2O3 and K2SO4 as a key step on the way to anisotropic BIMOVOx-oxides. This hydrothermal process is an illustrative example of highly selective and efficient morphology control through an inorganic additive. As mechanistic and kinetic studies are crucial for the design of complex oxide nanomaterials, the Bi2O3-K2SO4 system is compared to our previous studies on Mo-, W- and V-oxides with respect to its hydrothermal parameter window and robustness.
Sweet surfactants: packing parameter-invariant amphiphiles as emulsifiers and capping agents for morphology control of inorganic particles
