Electrochemical fabrication of ordered Bi2S3nanowire arrays

Abstract

We have successfully fabricated ordered, well-crystallized Bi₂S₃ nanowire arrays embedded in the nanochannels of porous anodic aluminium oxide templates by direct current electrodeposition from a dimethylsulfoxide solution containing BiCl₃ and elemental sulfur. X-ray diffraction and selected area electron diffraction investigations demonstrate that the Bi₂S₃ nanowires have an orthorhombic uniform structure. Electromicroscopy results show that the nanowires are quite ordered with diameters of about 40 nm and lengths up to 5 µm. X-ray energy dispersion analysis indicates that the atomic composition of Bi and S is very close to a 2 : 3 stoichiometry. The optical properties of these nanowires were characterized by optical absorption techniques. These studies reveal that the annealed Bi₂S₃ nanowires have an optical band edge (direct) of about 1.56 eV.