Synthesis of self-assembled Sb₂S₃ flower-like structures using microwave hydrothermal method.A novel mechanism to control the morphology of Sb₂S₃ through temperature and PVP content. Carbon-coated Sb₂S₃ flowers can be used as a lithium-ion anode material with high capacity and long cycling stability.

Abstract

Flower-like Sb₂S₃ hierarchical architectures constructed by one-dimensional (1D) building blocks have been successfully synthesized via microwave-assisted hydrothermal method by using SbF₃ as antimony source and PVP as controlling agent as well as carbon-coating source. The effect of PVP and reaction temperature on the morphological evolution of Sb₂S₃ architectures were systematically investigated, showing that introduction of PVP can readily regulate the morphological and phase structures of the Sb₂S₃ building blocks and their hierarchical assembly on the aspect of size and uniformity, phase, assembly density and disassembly. UV–visible (vis) absorption spectra reveals that the as-prepared Sb₂S₃ shows broad visible-light absorption up to 800 nm with a band gap of ∼1.6 eV. When examined as anode materials in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the as-prepared Sb₂S₃ with amorphous carbon coating layer, originating from the in situ carbonization of PVP, showed higher capacity and better cyclic performances than those of Sb₂S₃ counterpart obtained without PVP.