Size-controlled synthesis of hierarchical bismuth selenide nanoflowers and their photocatalytic performance in the presence of H2O2

Bismuth selenide (Bi2Se3) has attracted great attention as one of typical topological insulator materials. In this work, size-controllable Bi2Se3 nanoflowers (NFs) composed of numerous thin nanosheets are successfully synthesized by a hot-solution injection method under mild conditions. The structure and morphology of the obtained Bi2Se3 NFs are characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopic (EDS), and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) techniques. The reaction temperature, time, and surfactant ratio (oleylamine/oleic acid) affect the phase purity and morphology of Bi2Se3 samples. Based on the experimental results, the formation mechanism of Bi2Se3 nanoflowers is proposed. Meanwhile, the photocatalytic behavior of the as-prepared Bi2Se3 nanoflowers in the presence of H2O2 is explored and it is found that the degrading rate of RhB can reach 93% after 2 h visible light irradiation.