Elsevier

Materials Letters

Volume 71, 15 March 2012, Pages 168-171
Materials Letters

Hydrothermal synthesis and optical properties of antimony sulfide micro and nano-size with different morphologies

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2011.12.038Get rights and content

Abstract

High-quality and high-yield nano-crystalline antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) was successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal treatment in aqueous solution at 100 °C, by using antimony chloride (SbCl3) and thioglycolic acid (TGA) as starting reagents. The samples obtained were characterized by FT-IR, PL, SEM, EDX and XRD.

Graphical abstract

High-quality and high-yield nano-crystalline antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) was successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal treatment in aqueous solution at 100 °C, by using antimony chloride (SbCl3) and thioglycolic acid (TGA) as starting reagents. The samples obtained were characterized by FT-IR, PL, SEM, EDX and XRD.

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Highlights

► Nano-crystalline antimony sulfide were synthesized from the reaction of SbCl3 and thioglycolic acid under hydrothermal conditions. ► Sb2S3 nanostructures with difference morphologies were prepared. ► The optical absorption results showed that Sb2S3 is considered as an important material in the field of optoelectronics.

Introduction

As an excellent semiconductor, Sb2S3 exhibits important applications in photovoltaic [1], photosensors [2], solar energy and photoelectronics [3], [4], optical nanodevices operating in the near-infrared [5]. So far, various morphologies and architectures of Sb2S3 nanostructures have been reported, such as hollow cones [2], nanotubes [5], rod-like dendrites [6], [7], and straw-tied-like [8]. Many efficient techniques were developed to prepare nano and bulk Sb2S3, mainly including chemical vapor deposition [1], sonochemical [9], [10], [11], ambient-temperature [12], hydrothermal and solvothermal [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [13], [14], and thermal decomposition methods [15]. Herein, we present a hydrothermal method which the trick in hydrothermal synthesis of Sb2S3 nanostructures presented here is the using of thioglycolic acid (TGA) as a sulfur source and stability agent which was previously used as the stability agent to prevent the chalcogenide nanocrystals from aggregating [16], [17], [18], [19], [20].

Section snippets

Experimental procedures

In a typical experiment, 0.438 mmol SbCl3 was dissolved in 100 ml distilled water under stirring and the solution was mixed with stoichiometric TGA (7.89 mmol). The final solution was transferred to a 250 ml Teflon-line stainless steel autoclave. The sealed autoclave was allowed to maintain at 180 °C for 12 h, then cooled down to ambient temperature. The final products were washed repeatedly with distilled water and absolute ethanol several times and then dried at 50 °C. Further experiments are

Results and discussion

Fig. 1a shows the typical XRD pattern of the sample prepared at 100 °C for 12 h (sample no. 10). All of the peaks in the XRD pattern can be indexed as orthorhombic Sb2S3 with calculated lattice parameters of a = 11.239, b = 11.313, and c = 3.8411 Å (JCPDS Card No. 42-1393) [11], [14]. Fig. 1b shows the typical EDX pattern of the sample prepared at 100 °C for 12 h. Besides the peaks of Sb and S, there were no peaks for other impurities. Values of the EDX peaks given to the atomic ratio of Sb:S were 2:3 [6]

Conclusion

In summary, we report a simple convenient and efficient method for the morphology control of Sb2S3 by a hydrothermal method in the range of 100–220 °C and 8–18 h. XRD, EDX, and FT-IR results revealed that the growth of the rods does not need the participation of any templates and surfactant additives. The optical absorption results showed that Sb2S3 is considered as an important material in the field of optoelectronics.

Acknowledgments

Authors are grateful to the council of Iran National Science Foundation and University of Kashan for their unending effort to provide financial support to undertake this work.

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