Controlled deposition of covalently bonded tantalum oxide on carbon supports by solvent evaporation sol–gel process

A simple strategy for covalently attaching Ta2O5 particles onto functionalized graphitic carbon supports has been developed to fabricate hybrid nanocomposites. In this process, tantalum ethoxide was directly reacted with functional groups on the carbon surface to form covalent bonding, which caused the carbonyl stretches of the carbon supports to be blue-shifted to 50–70 cm−1 after Ta2O5 particle deposition. Homogeneously deposited Ta2O5 particles on the carbon supports have been studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT–IR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM).