Synthesis and morphology control of AM-6 nanofibers with tailored -V-O-V- intermediates

Microporous vanadosilicates with octahedral VO6 and tetrahedral SiO4 units, better known as AM-6, have been hydrothermally synthesized with different morphologies by controlling the Na/K molar ratio of the initial gel mixtures. The morphology of the AM-6 materials changed from bulky cube to nanofiber aggregates as the Na/K molar ratio decreased from 1.9 to 0.2. Raman spectroscopy revealed that the VO3- intermediate species plays an important role in the formation of the nanofiber morphology. The orientation of -V-O-V- chains in nanofiber aggregates was examined by confocal polarized micro-Raman spectroscopy. It was found that these aggregates are assemblies of short -V-O-V- chains perpendicular to the axis of nanofibers. The obtained AM-6 nanofibers greatly increase the exposed proportion of VO terminals, and thus improve the catalytic performance.