Photoresponse and Field-Emission Properties of Bismuth Sulfide Nanoflowers

Elegant Bi2S3 nanoflowers were prepared via a simple vapor deposition process. Compared to the Bi2S3 nanorods bundles, the conductivity of the nanoflowers is much more sensitive to simulated sunlight exposure. The light-induced conductivity increase allows us to reversibly switch the nanoflowers between OFF and ON states, an optical gating phenomenon analogous to the commonly used electrical gating, which show the possibility of creating highly sensitive photodetectors and optical switches using these Bi2S3 nanoflowers. Moreover, the field emission measurements confirm that the present nanoflowers are excellent field emitters with the turn-on field of 7.45 eV. Therefore, these Bi2S3 nanoflowers with large proportion of free open edges may be attractive in novel nanoscale electric and optoclectronic devices.