Synthesis of Nb2O5 Nanorods by a Soft Chemical Process

Single crystalline Nb2O5 nanorods have been successfully synthesized by a soft chemical process, in which only metal Nb powder and water were used as the starting materials. The synthesized Nb2O5 nanorods are highly crystalline and their growth is along [001] direction. The diameter of the nanorods is found to be ca. 50 nm and their lengths up to several micrometers. Based on the experimental results of XRD, SEM, and TEM measurements, the possible mechanism for the formation of Nb2O5 nanorods was discussed