Electrical conductivity and photoconductivity measurements were carried out on semiconducting vanadium oxide nanowire networks synthesized through the polycondensation of vanadic acid. The temperature-dependent conductivity was described well by Mott’s optical multiphonon assisted hopping model at high temperatures and by the variable-range hopping mechanism at low temperatures. The photoconductivity showed a weak temperature dependence. Besides, quasipersistent photocurrent with a single-exponential decay behavior was observed right after switching off the light and was explained in terms of the random local-potential fluctuation model.

The structural and magnetic properties in vanadium dioxide (VO2) nanorods prepared by the hydrothermal treatment are shown to be markedly different from the case of the bulk system. A peculiar mixed phase of an insulating monoclinic structure (M2) that is observed in the bulk systems under doping or stress and a rutile (R) structure was revealed and confirmed by transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and electron spin resonance measurements. Besides, a broad transition from a high-temperature magnetic phase to a low-temperature one, with quite distinct magnetic correlation strengths, was observed.