Electrochemical properties of vanadium oxide coatings grown by hydrothermal synthesis on FTO substrates

Vanadium oxide coatings were hydrothermally grown on fluorine doped tin dioxide glass substrates at 95 degrees C and further annealed at 100 and 300 degrees C. The coatings were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, UV-vis transmittance and cyclic voltammetry. Crystalline vanadium(V) oxide with the highest surface area ratio was observed for thermal treatment at 300 degrees C. In addition, the same sample presented the highest intercalation charge and enhanced durability compared with the others. The importance of achieving single-phase crystalline oxide for the improvement of the coatings performance was highlighted.