Ultrasonic irradiation-assisted synthesis of Bi2S3 nanoparticles in aqueous ionic liquid at ambient condition

In this work, an easy, fast and environmentally friendly method to obtain Bi2S3 nanostructures with sphere-like morphology is introduced. The promising material was successfully synthesized by a sonochemical route in 20% 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethyl sulfate [EMIM][EtSO4] ionic liquid solution (IL). Morphological studies by electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) show that the use of IL in the synthesis of Bi2S3 favors the formation of nanocrystals non-agglomerated. Micro Raman and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) were used to determine the composition and purity of the synthesized material. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and selective area electron diffraction (SAED) revealed that ultrasonic radiation accelerated the crystallization of Bi2S3 into orthorhombic bismuthinite structure. The band gap calculated from the diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) was found to be 1.5 eV. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.