¹⁷O Solid-State NMR Studies of Ta₂O₅ Nanorods

¹⁷O solid-state NMR spectroscopy was used to study the structure of Ta₂O₅ nanorods for the first time. Although the observations of oxygen ions in the "bulk" part of the Ta₂O₅ nanorods can be achieved with conventional high-temperature enrichment with ¹⁷O₂, low-temperature isotopic labeling with H₂ ¹⁷O generated samples whose surfaces are selectively enriched, leading to surface-only detection of oxygen species. By applying ¹⁷O-¹H double-resonance NMR techniques and ¹H NMR spectroscopy, surface hydroxyl species and adsorbed water can also be studied. The results form the basis for further understanding of the structure-property relationship of Ta₂O₅ nanomaterials.