Morphology controlled synthesis of spherical Bi2S3 flowers.

The spherical Bi2S3 flowers have been fabricated by a facile environmentally friendly hydrothermal method. It was found that the flowers are composed of pure orthorhombic phase Bi2S3, the nanorods (nanowires) composed of the flowers grow radically from a center toward all directions to form a spherical structure, and the nanowires are single-crystalline and grow along the [001] direction. The reaction time, reaction temperature and thiourea play key roles for the formation of the flowers. The morphology of the Bi2S3 flowers (e.g., honeycombs, porous nanorods, nanorods, and nanowires) can be controlled simply by controlling the reaction time without varying experimental parameters or addition of other surfactant. The formation mechanism of Bi2S3 flowers is self-assembly and the intrinsic splitting character of the Bi2S3 structure. The spherical Bi2S3 flowers could be found potential applications in optical, catalysts and sensor devices.