A novel nonaqueous route to V2O3 and Nb2O5 nanocrystals

The reaction between transition metal alkoxides and benzyl alcohol provides a novel soft chemistry route to metal oxide nanoparticles. The method allows the preparation of nanocrystals of two important transition metal oxides, namely V2O3 and Nb2O5. Although the reaction temperatures of 200–220 °C are comparably low, the obtained particles are highly crystalline. According to TEM investigations, the V2O3 crystals exhibit particle sizes between 20 and 50 nm, and the Nb2O5 crystals display platelet-like particle shapes with sizes of 50–80 nm, without any indications of amorphous character.