title: Benzyl alcohol and transition metal chlorides as a versatile reaction system for the nonaqueous and low-temperature synthesis of crystalline nano-objects with controlled dimensionality.
abstract: The reaction of transition metal chlorides with benzyl alcohol leads at low temperatures to oxidic nanostructures with low-dimensional particle shapes such as nearly spherical titania anatase nanoparticles, vanadium oxide nanorods, and tungsten oxide nanoplatelets. The process is simple, allows a scale-up in gram quantities, and leads to highly crystalline materials. Ethanol solutions containing tungsten oxide nanoparticles exhibit blue luminescence upon UV irradiation at room temperature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niederberger
authors.forename: Michael H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Bartl
authors.forename: Galen D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Stucky