Greta R. Patzke

Mechanical and electronic properties of vanadium oxide nanotubes

Vanadium oxide nanotubes with a diameter of 20–100 nm and an aspect ratio of 50–100 were synthesized by hydrothermal method. Young’s modulus of 20–80 GPa was obtained by bending measurements of individual nanotubes using an atomic force microscope. Electrical resistivity and thermopower measurements on a large assembly of nanotubes determined the characteristic energies required to put a charge into a polaronic site (ΔEg=0.20u2002eV) and to extract and propagate the polaron between neighboring sites (ΔEp=0.09u2002eV).