Facile hydrothermal synthesis of 3D hierarchical Bi2SiO5 nanoflowers and their luminescent properties

Facile hydrothermal synthesis of novel hierarchical flowerlike Bi2SiO5 nanostructures consisting of single-crystal nanosheets is reported using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP, K30) as capping reagent in the presence of NaOH. The obtained products are systematically characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Control experiments are carried out to investigate various factors that affect the morphology and size of the products. The results indicate that the nucleation and growth of the flowerlike nanostructures are dominated by a nucleation-dissolution-recrystallization growth mechanism. It is demonstrated that the concentrations of PVP and NaOH play important roles in the formation of the hierarchical nanoflowers. Moreover, the room-temperature photoluminescence properties of the Bi2SiO5 nanoflowers are also investigated. (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.