Photochemical synthesis of Bi 2Se 3 nanosphere and nanorods

Abstract

A photochemical reaction route was developed to synthesize bismuth selenide (Bi 2Se 3) nanoparticles and nanorods. In an aqueous solution, bismuth nitrate (Bi(NO 3) 3) reacted with sodium selenosufate in the presence of reducing agent and complexing agent, and the dispersed Bi 2Se 3 nanoparticles were obtained with the average size of 35 nm. The nanorods were prepared via an alumina template route in the same solution. We carried out experiments to study the formation mechanism in the morphology control of the products and found that series of factors played an effective role including the irradiation time, pH value, the reducing agents and the species of complexing agents. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).