Surfactant controlled synthesis of crystalline phosphovanadate nanorods

Phosphovanadate nanorods were obtained in a reaction of vanadium (V) oxide as a precursor and a cationic surfactant, dodecylpyridinium chloride, as structure directing template at pH ∼3 at room temperature. The composition and morphology of the nanorods was established by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The obtained nanorods have diameters of 40–60 nm with lengths up to 1 μm. The effect of reaction parameters such as concentration of surfactant and pH of the solution on the growth of nanorods has been investigated. A plausible mechanism involving the coalescence of nanoparticle ‘seeds’ leading to one-dimensional nanorods is also discussed. The same reaction when performed under hydrothermal condition, keeping other reaction parameters unchanged, resulted in the formation of phosphovanadate nanospheres of diameter 10–15 nm.