Facile synthesis of V2O5/TiO2 core-shell nanobelts

We report a facile chemical approach for the synthesis of one-dimensional V2O5/TiO2 core-shell nano-belts. The coated V2O5 nanobelts are synthesized by a hydrothermal method which is feasible for large-scale production. V2O5 nanobelts coated with a thin layer of TiO2 sol are formed before sintering, and after sintering one-dimensional V2O5/TiO2 core-shell nanobelts, composed of single-crystalline V2O5 nanobelts cores uniformly coated with anatase TiO2 nanoparticle shells are obtained. The influences of the synthetic parameters, such as sintering temperature and titanium/vanadium mole ratios, on the morphology of the resulting products are investigated. Interestingly, the shape of single-crystalline of V2O5 nanobelts is totally preserved after sintering; the morphology can be readily controlled to be smooth or rough by altering the sintering temperature of the shells and titanium/vanadium mole ratio.