Solvothermal Growth of Single-Crystal Bismuth Sulfide Nanorods using Bismuth Particles as Source Material

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Bismuth sulfide (Bi 2 S 3 ) nanorods have been successfully synthesized by a solvothermal process using bismuth (Bi)particles and Na 2 S 2 O 3 as source materials. The X-ray powder diffraction patterns show that the as-obtained products belong to theorthorhombic phase. The morphology transformation from Bi particles to Bi 2 S 3 nanorods during the solvothermal process has beencharacterized by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showthat the Bi 2 S 3 nanorods about 60 nm in diameter and 1-2 i m in length can be acquired by following the anisotropic growth. Theeffect of the solvent system on the quality of the nanorods was analyzed. It was found that using ethanol as solvent promotes thesynthesis of pure and uniform product.IntroductionAs a semiconducting material with a direct band gap rangingfrom 1.3 to 1.7 eV, bismuth(III) sulfide (Bi 2 S 3 ) has manypotential applications in the fabrication of optoelectronic andthermoelectric cooler devices.