Abstract
Effect of different capping agents such as hexamine and PEG-400 on the synthesis of alpha-MoO3 nanoparticles was investigated employing a simple chemical reduction method by adopting NaBH4 as reducing agent. Owing to the general fact that the two capping agents are unique in chemical properties, different physico-chemical properties on the synthesized samples were expected. The impact of capping agents on crystallite size, structural, morphological and optical properties of the obtained product has been studied employing standard characterization techniques. X-ray diffraction analysis typically shows the formation of orthorhombic alpha-MoO3 nanoparticles with high crystalline nature. Raman studies also confirm the formation of alpha-MoO3 by exhibiting the characteristic Mo-O stretching and bending modes in the regions of 900-600 and 400-200 cm(-1). PL and IR studies further ensured the formation of alpha-MoO3 nanoparticles. SEM image clearly revealed the nanoscale spherical morphology of synthesized alpha-MoO3 nanoparticles with and without capping agent. PEG-400 assisted alpha-MoO3 nanoparticles have demonstrated a good specific capacitance with 121 F/g as a suitable candidate for pseudo capacitance applications.