Growth and structural properties of α-MoO3 (0 1 0) microplates with atomically flat surface

Microplates of orthorhombic α-MoO3 with atomically flat (0 1 0) surface were grown by thermal recrystallization of intermediate molybdenum oxide used as a precursor. The precursor was obtained by the decomposition at T = 450 °C of crystalline molybdenum formate precipitated from ammonium paramolybdate water solution with formic acid. Recrystallization of the precursor crystals at T = 650 °C produced crystalline α-MoO3 microplates with a high-quality surface. The crystals grown were characterized by AFM, SEM, XRD and TG/DSC to study their phase composition and microstructure. The results indicate the formation of α-MoO3 microplates with ∼50 μm length, ∼10 μm width and ∼600 nm thickness with well-developed (0 1 0) crystal plane and atomically flat surface.