Towards thiol functionalization of vanadium pentoxide nanotubes using gold nanoparticles

Template-directed synthesis is a promising route to realize vanadate-based 1-D nanostructures, an example of which is the formation of vanadium pentoxide nanotubes and associated nanostructures. In this work, we report the interchange of long-chained alkyl amines with alkyl thiols. This reaction was followed using gold nanoparticles prepared by the Chemical Liquid Deposition (CLD) method with an average diameter of ∼ 0.9 nm and a stability of ∼ 85 days. V 2 O 5 nanotubes (VOx-NTs) with lengths of ∼ 2  μ m and internal hollow diameters of 20–100 nm were synthesized and functionalized in a Au-acetone colloid with a nominal concentration of ∼ 4 × 1 0 − 3  mol dm−3. The interchange reaction with dodecylamine is found only to occur in polar solvents and incorporation of the gold nanoparticles is not observed in the presence of n-decane.