Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
Upon extrusion process, first vanadium oxide macroscopic fibers have been obtained. They are associated to longitudinal Young modulus from 15 to 25 GPa and depict strong high scale textural anisotropy as observed through cross-polarized microscopy. TEM observations and SAXS experiments reveal that those macroscopic fibers are made of nanoscopic ribbons associated to preferential orientation parallel to the macroscopic fiber main axis, while XRD and NMR investigations reveal a microstructure close to the V2O5.1.8H2O xerogels. These fibers can detect down to 0.1 ppm of ethanol within 16 seconds at 40°C.