Hydrothermal synthesis of single crystal MoO3 nanobelts and their electrochemical properties as cathode electrode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries

Orthorhombic phase MoO3 (alpha-MoO3) nanobelts with uniform diameter are successfully prepared through a hydrothermal synthesis route at a low temperature (180 degrees C) in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) using saturated solution of ammonium molybdate tetrahydrate (AHM) as well as nitrate as raw materials, and are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The CTAB plays a key role in the formation of alpha-MoO3 nanobelts and the aspect ratio of nanobelts significantly varies with quality of CTAB. The nanobelts with rectangular cross-sections have single crystalline orthorhombic phase structure, preferentially grow in [001] direction. Raman shifts of the alpha-MoO3 nanobelts are fully consistent with that of flaky structure; however, intensity ratio of peaks 818.3 cm(-1) and 991.2 cm(-1) of alpha-MoO3 nanobelts remarkably changes comparing with that of lamellar MoO3. Electrochemical properties of alpha-MoO3 single crystal nanobelts synthesized as cathode electrode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries are also measured. It indicates that the alpha-MoO3 nanobelts exhibit a better performance than MoO3 micro flakes. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.