Vanadium sesquioxide nanocomposite

A method of making nanoparticles of vanadium sesquioxide in powder form, comprising the steps of:

• forming a V2O5 gel by sol-gel process;
• heating the V2O5 gel in a 5% hydrogen-95% argon gas mixture at 850° C. to form V2O3;
• and
• drying the V2O3 in vacuum at 50° C. for 24 hours to obtain the powder.

A method of forming a vanadium sesquioxide nanocomposite, comprising the steps of:

• forming a V2O5 gel by sol-gel process;
• heating the V2O5 gel in a 5% hydrogen-95% argon gas mixture at 850° C. to form V2O3;
• and
• drying the V2O3 in vacuum at 50° C. for 24 hours to obtain a powder containing nanoparticles of vanadium sesquioxide (V2O3);
• preparing a mixture of epoxy resin and a casting hardener at stoichiometric ratio;
• mixing the epoxy resin-hardener mixture with the nanoparticles of 1l vanadium sesquioxide to obtain a nanocomposite mixture;
• casting the nanocomposite mixture into a Teflon mold;
• heating the Teflon mold containing the nanocomposite mixture at 60° C.;
• and
• curing the heated nanocomposite mixture at about 100° C. under a pressure of about 150 KN/m2.