Hydrothermal synthesis of MoO_3 nanobelts and their electrochemical characterization

α-MoO_3 nanobelts can be hydrothermally synthesized by acidifying solution of molybdate with nitric acid at a well-controlled concentration.X-ray diffraction,transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM) were employed to analyze the crystalline structure and morphology of the synthesized MoO_3 nanofibres.The results indicate that orthorhombic MoO_3 nanofibres with widths ranging from 50～400nm grow along direction when nitric acid concentration is above 6.3mol/L,while hexagonal MoO_3 can be obtained when nitric acid concentration is around 2.6mol/L.Galvanostatic cycling tests reveal that electrode composed of MoO_3 nanobelts shows smaller decline in first lithiation capacity than that consists of microsized MoO_3 powders when the current density increases from 0.195～0.52mA/cm~2.