Electrical quadruple hysteresis in Pd-doped vanadium pentoxide nanowires due to water adsorption

Humidity-dependent current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of Pd-doped vanadium pentoxide nanowires (Pd-VONs) were investigated. Electrical quadruple hysteresis (QH) was observed and attributed to the large amount of water molecules adsorbed on the nanowires. Using QH in Pd-VONs, the reaction of water with PdO was interpreted as the water molecules are desorbed and then dissociated with increasing bias voltage. Owing to the dissociated H⁺ and OH^- ions, PdO is reduced and oxidized. As a result, water molecules recombine as the bias voltage is decreased. © 2010 National Institute for Materials Science.