Preparation of single-crystalline NdVO4 nanorods, and their emissions in the ultraviolet and blue under ultraviolet excitation.

This paper describes a facile sacrifical (NH4)0.5V2O5 nanowires approach to single-crystalline NdVO4 nanorods. The nanorods have a rectangular cross section of about 30 x 30 nm2 to 100 x 200 nm2, and length ranging from 400 to 700 nm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) show that the nanorods grew respectively along the [312] and [101] direction on the (NH4)0.5V2O5 nanowires. Ultraviolet (362 nm) and blue (467 nm) emissions can be observed under excitation of 310 nm at room temperature, suggesting that the nanorods should be good candidates for fabricating UV and blue nanodevices.