A facile route to the fabrication of morphology-controlled Sb2O3 nanostructures

We report in this paper a facile hydrothermal route for the preparation of Sb₂O₃ nanoribbons assembly with different aspect ratio and Sb₂O₃ polyhedral nanoparticles. Study indicates that the ratio of water and ethanol affects the morphology, size and crystal phase of Sb₂O₃ assembly building blocks. In a mixed alcohol and water solution, the orthorhombic Sb₂O₃ nanoribbons with a length of ～4 μm and a width of 400 nm were assembled into rod-like structures, while a length of ～3 μm and a width of 300 nm Sb₂O₃ nanoribbons were assembled into quadrangle structures with the increase of the water ratio. In the absolute alcohol solution, the cubic Sb₂O₃ particles with polyhedral morphology were formed. PL spectra indicate that the morphology strongly affects the luminescence property. The possible formation mechanisms involving the surfactant-assisted self-assembly and the confined growth were also proposed for the formation of the bundled nanoribbons and polyhedral granules, respectively.