A simple way to prepare bismuth nanoparticles

In this paper, we report a simple method to prepare bismuth nanoparticles from bulk bismuth. Bismuth nanoparticles of near spherical shape have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and other techniques. Bismuth nanoparticles have mean diameter of 40-50 nm and exhibit the same crystal structure as the bulk bismuth. The surface of bismuth nanoparticle has been oxidized and the thermal analysis shows that bismuth samples contain at least 9 wt.% organic solvent and 76 wt.% metallic bismuth. The tribological property of bismuth nanoparticles as additives in oil is evaluated on a four-ball tester. The results show that bismuth nanoparticles exhibit good performance in wear. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.