Synthesis of crystalline SrMoO4 nanowires from polyoxometalates

Crystalline SrMoO4 nanowires were synthesized via a facile hydrothermal process at 180 °C for 10 h. α-(NH4)6-P2Mo18O62·nH2O, one of polyoxometalates with Dawson structure, was employed as the source of molybdates. The diameter and length of the obtained SrMoO4 nanowires are about 20 nm and 5-10 μm, respectively. HRTEM results show that the SrMoO4 nanowires are of high crystallinity with rough surface. However, when Na2MoO4·2H2O was used, there are only SrMoO4 nanorods with smaller aspect ratio (200/70 nm) in the similar hydrothermal process. The probable growth mechanism was discussed.