Optical Properties of Bismuth Oxide Nanoparticles Synthesized by Pulsed Laser Ablation in Liquids

Bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) nanostructured particles were synthesized by pulsed laser ablation (PLA) technique by irradiating solid bismuth target in 3% H2O2 solution using 355 nm laser radiations generated by third harmonic Nd:YAG laser. Synthesized nanoparticles (NPs) were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), UV-visible absorption, Fourier transform Infra-Red (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy. The XRD pattern of the prepared sample was indexed as bismuth oxide alpha- Bi2O3 and particle size was evaluated = 4 nrn. The UV-visible spectrum indicated that the absorption edge is blue shifted and the band gap of the prepared sample was estimated = 3.8 eV. The Raman spectrum exhibited peaks at 68, 96, 135, 315, 183, and 470 nm which are the characteristic bands of alpha-Bi2O3. The FTIR spectrum showed the absorption band at 829 cm(-1) which is attributed to Bi-O-Bi bond, and the strong absorption band recorded at 442 cm(-1) is due to the stretching mode of Bi-O.