A facile solvothermal synthesis of hierarchical Sb2Se3 nanostructures with high electrochemical hydrogen storage ability

Abstract

Sb2Se3 carpenterworm-like hierarchical structures composed of numerous sheet-like crystals with a diameter of ca.1 μm and a thickness of ca.40 nm have been fabricated by a simple glucose assisted solvothermal approach in a mixture of solvents. The factors influencing the formation of the hierarchical Sb2Se3 nanostructures are monitored by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) characterization. Based on the time dependent experiments, the aggregation-based process and anisotropic growth mechanism are reasonably proposed to understand the formation mechanism of Sb2Se3 hierarchical architectures. The electrochemical hydrogen storage behavior of the as-prepared products is studied in detail. It is found that the morphology plays a key role in the hydrogen storage capacity of such nanomaterials. The carpenterworm-like of Sb2Se3 presents a much higher discharging capacity (248 mA h g−1) than that of Sb2Se3 microspheres (196 mA h g−1) at room temperature.