Vanadium oxide nanourchins: Hydrothermal synthesis, characterization, frequency dependent electrical properties

Abstract Vanadium oxide nanourchins (4-phenylbutylamine/vanadium oxide) have been synthesized via one-step hydrothermal treatment. The electrical and dielectric properties dependences on temperature and on frequency of the nanocomposite have been reported. It has been found that the dielectric constant and the dielectric loss decrease when frequency increases. However they increase when temperature increases over the studied ranges. Furthermore, the low frequency dielectric response followed a universal fractional power law. This was ascribed to the quasi-dc conductivity. At low frequencies the ac conductivity tends to be constant while at higher frequencies it becomes frequency dependent, which can be explained in terms of Jonscher׳s law. Values of the exponents decrease with increasing temperature and the experimental data reveal that the hopping model is the rate determining mechanism.