Synthesis, Growth Mechanism, and Photocatalytic Properties of Metallic-Bi/Bi13S18Br2 Nano-Bell Heterostructures
We report the synthesis of bell-shaped Bi/Bi13S18Br2 metal/semiconductor heterostructures as a photocatalyst based on nontoxic and Earth-abundant elements. Their unique morphology arises from a multistep growth process, involving (1) the nucleation of Bi13S18Br2 nanorods, (2) the reduction of a metallic-Bi domain on their surface induced by N,N-didodecylmethylamine, and (3) the heterostructure acc