Functional nanostructure synthesis

Image Caption: 
Four distinct types of VO2–TiO2–VO2 nanostructures were accessible, and the metal-insulator transition temperature was tunable based on the sizes of the VO2 domains and the characteristics of the VO2-TiO2 interfaces.
Credits/Names: 

Penn State MRSEC DMR-1420620. X. Li and R. E. Schaak.

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) nanostructures that exhibit a switchable metal-insulator transition are difficult to synthesize in solution, in part because there are several closely related VOx compounds with similar structures and compositions.

We circumvented this bottleneck by growing VO2 epitaxially on the tips of nanorods of TiO2, which is structurally similar to the targeted VOphase.

Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2017, 56, 49, 15550 - 15554. 

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201706599

Year of Highlight: 
2019
IRG: 
IRG4 - Phototonic Assemblies