Comparatively Low Temperature Synthesis, Characterization and Some Physical Studies on Transition Metal Vanadates

Abstract

Pure transition metal vanadates NiV₂O₆ and CuV₂O₆ were successfully prepared via co-precipitation technique as low as at 600 °C. The crystal structure and their phase formation were confirmed by X-ray powdered diffraction. Both the compounds were identified to have a single-phase triclinic structure. The bonding characteristics were studied by FTIR spectroscopy. The temperature dependence of electrical resistivity of these vanadates shows a typical semiconducting nature of NiV₂O₆ and CuV₂O₆, consistent with their electronic band structures. The calculated band gap energy values of NiV₂O₆ and CuV₂O₆ were found to be 2.42 and 2.0 eV respectively, employing a DRS UV-Visible spectrophotometer. Magnetic susceptibility measurements and calculated Magnetic moments confirm their paramagnetic nature. The photocatalytic efficiency was investigated by photo-degradation of methylene blue (MB) solutions employing solar light and found to be promising photocatalysts.