Elsevier

Materials Letters

Volume 64, Issue 2, 31 January 2010, Pages 122-124
Materials Letters

Characterization of Bi2S3 with different morphologies synthesized using microwave radiation

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2009.10.006Get rights and content

Abstract

Bi2S3 with different morphologies (nanoparticles, nanorods and nanotubes) was synthesized using bismuth nitrate pentahydrate (Bi(NO3)3·5H2O) and two kinds of sulfur sources (CH3CSNH2 and NH2CSNH2) in different solvents (water, ethylene glycol and propylene glycol) via a microwave radiation method at 180 W for 20 min. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that all of the products are orthorhombic Bi2S3 phase of nanoparticles, nanorods and nanotubes, influenced by the sulfur sources and solvents. Formation mechanisms of the products with different morphologies are also proposed.

Introduction

In recent years, semiconducting nanomaterials have received considerable attention due to their wide applications in the fabrication of optical and electronic devices. A group of A2VB3VI (A = As, Sb, Bi; B = S, Se, Te) chalcogenides are semiconductors, which have many applications for different devices, such as television cameras with photoconducting targets, thermoelectric, electronic, optoelectronic, and IR spectroscopy [1], [2], [3]. Among them, bismuth sulfide (Bi2S3), a layered semiconductor with orthorhombic system, is a candidate for photodiode arrays and photovoltaic converters, due to its low energy gap (1.3 eV) which has been widely used in thermoelectric cooling technologies [1], [2], [3], [4], [5].

There are a variety of methods used to synthesize the chalcogenide, such as low temperature chemical reaction [4], hydrothermal method [5], solvothermal route [3], [6], rapid polyol process [7], and microwave irradiation [2]. Among them, the microwave method exhibits much advantage. Since 1986, microwave irradiation was discovered to be an efficient heating process. It has a number of applications in chemistry and is widely used to synthesize zeolites and other inorganic materials. The microwave synthesis, which is generally quite fast, is simple and very efficient. It has an advantage over conventional method, by consuming shorter reaction time, and producing small particle size, narrow particle size distribution and phase with high purity [8].

In this study, the characterization of bismuth sulfide with different morphologies (nanoparticles, nanorods and nanotubes) synthesized by a microwave irradiation method is reported.

Section snippets

Experiment

Bi2S3 nanoparticles, nanorods and nanotubes were synthesized by a microwave irradiation method using the Bi3+:S2− molar ratio of bismuth nitrate pentahydrate (Bi(NO3)3·5H2O) and thioacetamide (CH3CSNH2, TA) or thiourea (NH2CSNH2, TU) at 2:3. They were dissolved in 30 ml different solvents (water, ethylene glycol (EG) and propylene glycol (PG)), which were followed by 0.5 ml 65 % HNO3 adding with 30 min stirring at room temperature. Each precursor solution was transferred into a cooking microwave

Results and discussion

XRD patterns of the products, synthesized using bismuth nitrate pentahydrate (Bi(NO3)3·5H2O) and two kinds of sulfur sources (CH3CSNH2 and NH2CSNH2) in different solvents (water, ethylene glycol and propylene glycol) by a microwave radiation at 180 W for 20 min, are shown in Fig. 1. All the diffraction peaks were indexed and specified as pure orthorhombic Bi2S3 phase of the JCPDS database no. 17–0320 [10]. No impurities such as Bi2O3, Bi and S were detected. The diffraction peaks are quite sharp,

Conclusions

Different morphologies of nanostructured bismuth sulfide including nanoparticles, nanorods and nanotubes have been successful synthesized by a microwave irradiation method at 180 W for 20 min, using Bi (NO3)3·5H2O and CH3CSNH2 or NH2CSNH2 in various solvents (water, ethylene glycol and propylene glycol). XRD patterns, and TEM and SEM images showed that the products were orthorhombic structured Bi2S3 with the morphologies controlled by the sulfur sources and solvents.

Acknowledgement

The research was supported under the National Research University Project for Chiang Mai University, by the Commission on Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Thailand.

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