Synthesis and Characterization of Template-Free VS4 Nanostructured Materials with Potential Application in Photocatalysis

Since its discovery, little work has been done on the vanadium chalcogenide VS 4 . Recently, a facile method for synthesizing VS 4 was discovered using a graphitic template. Here we show for the first time that template-free VS 4 can be synthesized in a hydrothermal reaction by controlling key parameters of the reaction: mainly time, temperature, and pH. The phase and morphology of VS 4 materials are tracked carefully using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) under each reaction condition. It is found that lower reaction temperatures and longer reaction times are sufficient to form VS 4 crystals, while variations in pH do not appear to greatly affect VS 4 crystallinity but rather surface area and morphology. By use of optimized reaction parameters, further characterization shows template-free VS 4 to be comparable with VS 4 templated with graphene oxide. Initial photocatalytic testing of these materials shows that VS 4 has the potential to be used in photocatalysis.