EPR investigations of oxidation effects in (V1−xMox)2−δO3 Original Research Article

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) investigations has been carried out on the new family of molybdenum doped vanadium sesquioxides (V1−xMox)2−δO3. The oxidation effects were monitored from the rate of paramagnetic V4+ created when the sample is exposed to the air. The effects of the oxidation time, sample temperature, and annealing at 1000 °C under a diluted hydrogen atmosphere on the EPR signal features are analyzed. The V4+ concentration in the oxidized samples is determined and the relaxation effects driven by the conduction electrons are pointed out from the thermal behaviour of the EPR line features. EPR spectra of all the oxidized samples also reveal a small ferromagnetic contribution strongly correlated with the V4+ content.