Solution Growth of Modified Ultrathin W18 O49 Nanobelts with Enhanced Chemical Activity against Alkylamine Radicals

Group IVB ions (Ti4+ and Zr4+ ) are employed to modify solution growth of W18 O49 nanocrystals. In the presence of group IVB ions, the morphology of the produced monoclinic W18 O49 nanocrystals can be modulated from inhomogeneous shapes to uniform an ultrathin nanobelt with the (1‾ 01) lattice plane being the main exposure surface. Interestingly, the ultrathin W18 O49 nanobelts exhibit a unique chemical activity against alkylamine radicals, probably originated from the highly increased exposure of the (1‾ 01) plane with extra tungsten and oxygen atoms inserted in the regular lattice, which makes this nanomaterial an active photocatalyst for the N-de-ethylation reaction of the rhodamine B molecules, as well as a promising gas sensor matrix with selective responses to alkylamine molecules, including diethylamine, dimethylamine, triethylamine and trimethylamine. These results could provide useful inspiration for developing other functional nanomaterials with technical significance via modification of their morphologies and chemical properties.