Biomolecule-assisted Solvothermal Synthesis of Bismuth Sulfide Nanorods

A simple biomolecule-assisted synthetic route has been successfully developed to prepare bismuth sulfide (Bi2S3) nanorods under solvothermal conditions. In the synthetic system, pentahydrate bismuth nitrate was employed to supply Bi source and L-cystine was used as sulfide source and complexing agent. The morphology, structure, and phase composition of the as-prepared Bi2S3 products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The experimental results show that the nanorods have uniform diameter of 100-200 nm and length of 2-4 mu m. The possible formation mechanism for the bismuth sulfide nanorods was discussed.