Preparation of uniform Bi2S3 nanorods using xanthate complexes of bismuth(III)

Orthorhombic Bi2S3 nanorods were synthesized via hydrothermal treatment from a novel kind of single-source precursors, the adducts of Bi(S2COR)(3) [R = sec-butyl] with neutral ligands (pyridine [C5H5N] or 1,10-phenanthroline [C12H8N2]). The decomposition of the complex [Bi(S2COC4H9)(3)(C5H5N)(2)] (1) produces Bi2S3 nanorods with diameters in the range of 20-35 nm and lengths of hundreds of nanometers. The nanodispersed Bi2S3 in dichloromethane maintains a long-term stability and shows a blue shift on the optical band edge with a band gap E-g approximate to 1.67 eV. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy studies reveal that the Bi2S3 nanorods are oriented in a [001] growth direction.