Synthesis of crystalline SrMoO4 nanowires from polyoxometalates

Crystalline SrMoO4 nanowires were synthesized via a facile hydrothermal process at 180 °C for 10 h. α-(NH4)6-P2Mo18O62·nH2O, one of polyoxometalates with Dawson structure, was employed as the source of molybdates. The diameter and length of the obtained SrMoO4 nanowires are about 20 nm and 5–10 μm, respectively. HRTEM results show that the SrMoO4 nanowires are of high crystallinity with rough surface. However, when Na2MoO4·2H2O was used, there are only SrMoO4 nanorods with smaller aspect ratio (200/70 nm) in the similar hydrothermal process. The probable growth mechanism was discussed.