Luminescence and electrochemical properties of rare earth (Gd, Nd) doped V sub(2)O sub(5) nanostructures synthesized by a non-aqueous sol-gel route

Vanadium pentoxide nanostructures have been obtained from an alkoxide sol-gel, prepared by a simple and inexpensive facile non-aqueous method. The progressive addition of rare earth (RE) ions (Gd super(3+), Nd super(3+)) to pristine V sub(2)O sub(5) and the structural, functional, morphological, optical and electrochemical properties were studied. XPS studies confirmed the presence of RE ions in the orthorhombic phase of pristine V sub(2)O sub(5), which was supported by XRD. The doping of RE ions significantly altered the morphology of V sub(2)O sub(5) into various nanostructures by the linkage of small V sub(2)O sub(5) nanoparticles. A significant red shift from undoped V sub(2)O sub(5) was observed from UV absorption and PL spectra. From the CV experiment, it was observed that the overall cell potential was increased for the doped samples. The specific capacity of the Gd super(3+) and Nd super(3+) doped V sub(2)O sub(5) increased upto 10%, which is useful for secondary Li-ion rechargeable batteries.