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 VS4. Recently, a facile method for synthesizing VS4 was discovered using a graphitic template. Here we show for the first time that template-free VS4 can be synthesized in a hydrothermal reaction by controlling key parameters of the reaction: mainly time, temperature, and pH. The phase and morphology of VS4 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 VS4 crystals, while variations in pH do not appear to greatly affect VS4 crystallinity but rather surface area and morphology. By use of optimized reaction parameters, further characterization shows template-free VS4 to be comparable with VS4 templated with graphene oxide. Initial photocatalytic testing of these materials shows that VS4 has the potential to be used in photocatalysis.