Biomolecule-assisted Solvothermal synthesis of Sb₂S₃ nanorods

A simple biomolecule-assisted synthetic route has been successfully developed to prepare antimony sulfide(Sb₂S₃) nanorods at 170°C for 12 h. In this synthetic system, antimony chloride(SbCl₃) is employed to supply antimony source and L-cystine is used as sulfide source. X-ray powder diffraction(XRD), energy dispersion spectroscopy(EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) results indicate that the as-prepared powder is pure orthorhombic Sb₂S₃. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM) show that the Sb₂S₃ nanorods have an average diameter of 150 nm and length ranging from 3 to 6 μm. The effect of reaction time on morphology of the product has been investigated, and a possible formation mechanism for the antimony sulfide nanorods was also discussed.