Room-temperature synthesis, growth mechanism and properties of uniform CdMoO4 nano-octahedra

Large-scale, uniform and single-crystalline CdMoO4 nano-octahedra have been successfully synthesized via a reverse-microemulsion route at room temperature. The structures and morphologies of the as-prepared products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). The effect of various reaction conditions on the morphology and size of CdMoO4 products was investigated. The results show that the water content (omega), initial concentration of reagents and reaction temperature play important roles in governing the final product. A possible four-step growth mechanism was proposed for the formation of CdMoO4 nano-octahedra. Room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra of CdMoO4 crystallites were measured, indicating that their optical properties obviously depend on the particle sizes and morphologies. Moreover, temperature-dependent photoluminescence and electrochemical behavior of CdMoO4 nano-octahedra were tested for the first time. The results suggest their prospective applications for optoelectronic devices and sensor construction.