Microwave-Assisted Solvothermal Synthesis and Characterization of Barium Orthovanadate Nanoparticles

Microwave synthesized materials have been recently attracted much interest, both theoretical and experimentally. Metal orthovanadates have been employed in microwave devices, photoluminescence, IR-laser, light-emitting diode, photocatalyst and ferroelectric devices. The metal orthovanadates have an orthorhombic crystal structure. The magnetic ions M form the so-called Kagome ladder, the MO6 octahedra are located in zigzag layers separated by nonmagnetic ions V. The manufacturing methods of metal orthovanadates have been developed to enhance the applications by a range of processes, such as a solid-state reaction, a solution phase metathetic method, sol-gel, a solid-state metathesis approach, a mechano-chemical method and a floating zone technique. The concept of introducing chemical reactions between precursors powders has emerged as an attractive method to synthesize novel materials. Solid-state metathesis reactions require minimum energy input to initiate the synthesis reactions. There are several sources of providing the required energy such as contacting precursors with a heated filament, using electromagnetic waves. Microwave energy is delivered to the surface of the material by radiant and/or convection heating, which is transferred to the bulk of the material via conduction with an electromagnetic field. Hydrothermal process is an efficient low temperature method that allows the formation of particles with high degree of crystallinity and easy dispersion in an aqueous medium. The use of microwave energy in hydrothermal system promotes Microwave-Assisted Solvothermal Synthesis and Characterization of Barium Orthovanadate Nanoparticles