Synthesis and characterization of Bi2S3 faceted nanotube bundles

Single-crystalline Bi2S3 nanotubes have been prepared by pyrolyzing single-source precursor Bi(S2CNEt2)3 at 530 ∘C. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectrum, energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) demonstrate that the nanotubes are composed of pure orthorhombic phase Bi2S3. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) show that the Bi2S3 nanotubes have rectangular or polygonal open ends with cross-sectional width of 100–500 nm, and length up to several microns. The nanotubes grow radially from a center toward two or more different directions to form straw-bundle-like morphology. High-resolution (HR) TEM and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) demonstrate that the nanotubes are single-crystalline and grow along the [001] direction.