Controllable synthesis and formation mechanism of bow-tie-like Sb2O3 nanostructures via a surfactant-free solvothermal route

The bow-tie-like antimony trioxide (Sb2O3) nanostructures are composed of sheet-like morphology. Each Sb2O3 nanosheet is a single crystal with the [0 0 1] growth crystallographic direction, which has a width of ∼400 nm over its entire length, a length of up to ∼2 μm, and a thickness of ∼50 nm. The influences of several experimental parameters on the morphology of nanostructures have been investigated in detail. On the basis of the time-dependent experimental results, a possible formation mechanism has been proposed. It is expected that the bow-tie-shaped Sb2O3 nanostructures have some applications in optoelectronic devices.