Large-scale synthesis of double cauliflower-like Sb2S3 microcrystallines by hydrothermal method

•Highly uniform double cauliflower-like Sb2S3 particles were synthesized via hydrothermal method.•Influence of reaction conditions on the morphology of the products was discussed.•Double cauliflower-like Sb2S3 superstructures revealed broad spectrum response.

The double cauliflower-like Sb2S3 superstructures assembled by nanorods were prepared using SbCl3 and Na2S⋅9H2O as raw materials, dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB, C15H31BrN) as surfactant under acidic condition at 180 °C for 30 h. The structure, morphology and composition of the product were characterized by X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and energy diffraction spectroscopy (EDS). The effect of reaction conditions including temperature, reaction time and surfactants on the sample morphology was discussed and a possible mechanism for the formation of cauliflower-like Sb2S3 was proposed. The cauliflower-like Sb2S3 microcrystallines revealed broad spectrum response, which may have a good application prospect in solar energy utilization and photoelectric conversion fields.