Controlled fabrication and optical properties of 3D hierarchical α-Bi2O3 siamesed microflowers

Three dimensional (3D) hierarchical alpha-Bi2O3 siamesed microflowers have been synthesized by a glycerin-assisted hydrothermal method. The microflowers of 30 mu m were built up of oblique prism-like nanorobs, with mean width of 300 nm and thickness of 100 nm. In the hydrothermal process, hierarchical microstructures constructed by nanoribbons, ultrathin nanoflakes and oblique prism-like nanorobs can be found at different step of crystal growth. Morphology evolution of alpha-Bi2O3 was analyzed and the probable formation mechanism was proposed based on experimental results. The vibrational properties, optical absorption and photoluminescence (PL) characteristics of the sample were investigated. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.