Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation
7-2009
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
M. Eng.
Department
Chemical Engineering
Committee Chair
Sunkara, Mahendra K.
Subject
Nanowires
Abstract
The future of renewable energy technologies involves overcoming difficulties with the creation of new materials. The use of nanotechnology has allowed for inexpensive materials to achieve very interesting physical and electronic properties. This thesis investigates the synthesis Molybdenum oxide nanowire arrays are synthesized using HFCVD, then converted to Molybdenum sulfide under relatively benign conditions. These inexpensive nanowires have applications in photovoltaics, Li ion batteries and much more. Molybdenum oxide nanowire arrays were successfully synthesized. The nanowires had an average length of 0.5 microns and an average diameter ranging from 10 to 20 nm. The primary focus of this thesis was the post synthesis of these oxide nanowires to Molybdenum sulfide. The MoO3 nanowires were reacted with pure H2S at relatively low temperatures, ranging 200 – 300°C. This conditions successfully synthesized MoS2 nanowires. Reaction conditions at these low temperatures differ greatly from the normal method of MoS2 synthesis which require extreme conditions and do not produce a nanowire morphology. These sulfide nanowire arrays have applications in photovoltaics due to its low band gap of 1.7 eV and also as a cathode material for Li ion batteries.
Recommended Citation
Cummins, Dustin Ray 1987-, "Synthesis of Molybdenum oxide nanowires and their facile conversion to Molybdenum sulfide." (2009). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 300.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/300
