Innovative solvo-combustion route for the rapid synthesis of MoO3 and Sm2O3 materials

This paper reports the development of a solvo-combustion synthesis route using acetylacetone as the novel fuel and ethanol as the solvent, with water excluded from the system. MoO3 and Sm2O3 materials synthesized by this route were characterized by various physicochemical techniques. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that the as-prepared materials contained α-MoO3 and cubic Sm2O3 began to crystallize at 500 °C. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis indicated that MoO3 particles possessed a plate shape, whereas Sm2O3 particles formed foam-like agglomerates. The Sm2O3 materials exhibited surface areas at least 2 times greater than those of the MoO3 materials. The nature of each oxide and the reagents used in the synthesis played important roles in determining the resulting morphology and surface area. This solvo-combustion route is expected to be suitable for the synthesis of complex oxides with attractive specific surface areas.