Self-assembling mechanism of vanadium oxide nanotubes

Vanadium oxide nanotubes were prepared by hydrothermal self-assembling process from vanadium pentoxide and organic molecules as structure-directing templates. The forming mechanism of vanadium oxide nanotubes was studied by XRD, SEM, TEM, FTIR, ESR. The results show that the formation of the vanadium oxide nanotubes is based on the "rolling mechanism", which can be divided into three main steps: (1) The surfactant molecules intercalate into the interlayer of vanadium oxide, resulting in a new layered compound precursor. (2) These lamellar sheets become loose at the edges and then start to rolle themselves. (3) Vanadium oxide nanotubes are finally formed. The results also confirm that the certain interlayer distance resulting from the intercalation of template moleculae and the presence of vanadium (IV) play important roles in the formation of curved interface during preparing vanadium oxide nanotubes.