Urchinlike Nanostructure of Single-Crystalline Nanorods of Sb2S3 Formed at Mild Reaction Condition

Abstract

Urchinlike nanostructure of well-defined Sb2S3 crystals of 3-4 mu m in length and 30-150 nm in diameter oriented along [001] direction have been produced at a mild reaction temperature of 90 degrees C from SbCl3 and S-methyl 3-phenyldithiocarbazate [C6H5NHNHC(S)SMe] in ethylene glycol medium. During the reaction, the amorphous Sb2S3 spheres of 1.4 mu m in diameter were formed at early reaction stage and then crystalline nanorods were continuously grown at the surface of Sb2S3 spheres while transforming their morphology into urchinlike structure. The urchinlike Sb2S3 was composed of single-crystalline Sb2S3 nanorods, belong to the orthorhombic phase with cell parameters a = 11.307 angstrom, b = 11.278 angstrom, c = 3.847 angstrom and absorbed the light up to 750 nm-wavelength region. The urchinlike Sb2S3 architecture was applied to the photoelectrochemical cell