Xuegang Ma

Ultralong monoclinic ZnV2O6 nanowires: their shape-controlled synthesis, new growth mechanism, and highly reversible lithium storage in lithium-ion batteries

In this paper, we report on the shape-controlled synthesis of monoclinic (m-) ZnV2O6 micro/nanostructures through a simple hydrothermal approach and their highly reversible lithium storage for anode materials in lithium-ion batteries. m-ZnV2O6 structures with different diameters were selectively explored by changing the critical experimental parameters of dwell time and reaction temperatures. A novel “dissolution recrystalizaion–Ostwald ripening–splitting” combination mechanism for uniform nanowires is proposed by further monitoring the time-dependent evolution of morphologies and phases. Furthermore, these m-ZnV2O6 nanowires with high aspect ratio exhibit a better reversible capacity and a much excellent cyclic retention than that of as-obtained mesostructures and bulk counterparts because of better contact behavior and a shorter diffusion length for Li+, implying a promising candidate for the application in high-energy batteries.

Ultralong triclinic-Ba2V2O7 nanowires: microwave radiation-assisted CTAB surfactant synthesis, the novel growth mechanism and optical activity performances

Barium vanadate nanomaterials, including ultralong nanowires, fan-like nanosheets and nanoflakes, have been fabricated through a facile microwave radiation-assisted CTAB surfactant method. XRD, SEM, TEM/HRTEM and SAED were employed to characterize the microstructure and morphology of products. Moreover, series of parallel experiments in different concentration of precursors and reaction time were accurately controlled to research the effects of kinetics and thermodynamics. Nucleation and preferential growth of triclinic t-Ba2V2O7 nanowires follows the “self assemble-dissolution recrystallization-Ostwald ripening” mechanism, which can be applied to fabricate other functional alkaline earth vanadates one dimensional nanostructures in a highly efficient route. The UV-vis absorbance spectra indicate that as-synthesized t-Ba2V2O7 nanowires exhibited an energy gap blue-shift with the size reduction and shape evolution.