Influence of Al3+ doping for V5+ on the structural, optical, thermal and electrical properties of V2-xAlxO5-δ (x=0–0.20) ceramics

Abstract This paper reports an investigation on the structure-properties correlation of trivalent metal oxide (Al2O3)-doped V2O5 ceramics synthesized by the melt-quench technique. XRD patterns confirmed a single orthorhombic V2O5 phase formation with increasing strain on the doping of Al2O3 in place of V2O5 in the samples estimated by Williamson-Hall analysis. FTIR and Raman investigations revealed a structural change as [VO5] polyhedra converts into [VO4] polyhedra on the doping of Al2O3 into V2O5. The optical band gap was found in a wide semiconductor range as confirmed by UV–visible spectroscopy analysis. The thermal and conductivity behavior of the prepared samples were studied using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and impedance analyzer, respectively. All the prepared ceramics exhibit good DC conductivity (0.22–0.36 Sm-1) at 400 ᵒC. These materials can be considered for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell (IT-SOFC)/battery applications due to their good conductivity and good thermal stability.