Synthesis and characterization of novel coral spherical bismuth oxide

Bismuth oxide, a widely studied semiconductor material, has been discovered in a variety of forms. Novel coral spherical α-Bi 2 O 3 with a diameter of 2–4 μm was successfully prepared by a simple template-free and surfactant-free hydrothermal method. The structure and morphology of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission electron scanning microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The experimental results revealed that the reaction time and the urea concentration could regulate the morphology of Bi 2 O 3 , and a possible formation mechanism was proposed based on the results. This study provides a new idea for the morphological synthesis of bismuth oxide.