Copyright © 2013 by American Scientific Publishers Advanced Science,

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Printed in the United States of America Vol. 5, pp. 1–3, 2013
(www.aspbs.com/asem)

Synthesis and Characterization of

Bismuth Oxide Quantum Dots
K. R. Nemade and S. A. Waghuley∗
Department of Physics, Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University, Amravati 444602, India

Present study was designed to scrutinize the synthesis of semiconducting metal oxide to act as a material
capable of supporting to contemporary application. The synthesis of bismuth oxide (Bi2 O3
quantum dots (QDs)
was done through chemical rout. The Bi2 O3 QDs was synthesized by hexamethylteramine (HMT) as nitrate
remover. The ratio of HMT and bismuth nitrate was 1:1 M. The characterization of QDs was done thorough
UV-VIS analysis, transmission electron microscophy (TEM) and selected area diffraction pattern (SADP). The
particle size was estimated 9.44 nm from UV-VIS analysis. The conformation was done through TEM. The
structural analysis was done through SADP.

KEYWORDS: Bismuth Oxide Quantum Dots, UV-VIS Spectroscopy, SADP.

1. INTRODUCTION
Bismuth oxide has been extensively studied due to
its potential application such as terahertz devices,1 gas
sensors,2 Photovoltaic Devices etc.3 The Bi2 O3 is also used
as an additive in paints. From the gas sensing point of
scrutiny, 0D materials are expected to have significantly
enhanced performance due to their ultrahigh surface to vol-
ume ratios and a Debye length comparable to their dimen-
sions, which makes their electrical properties extremely
sensitive to surface-adsorbed species, as recent work has
shown with Fe2 O3 and SnO2 nanowires. Therefore, great
effort has been devoted to synthesize Bi2 O3 nanowires
over the last years. Several groups reported similar self-
sacrificing template routes to prepare Bi2 O3 nanowires
and Bi–Bi2 O3 core–shell nanowires by high-temperature
oxidation.4
Lee et al.5 demonstrate the synthesis of Yttria-doped
bismuth oxide (YBO) powders by ammonium carbonate
coprecipitation for the preparation of electrolytes of an
intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell. The start-
ing salts were yttrium and bismuth nitrate. The results
showed that the ammonium carbonate co-precipitation pro-
cess could be used as the cost-efficient method of produc-
ing YBO electrolytes for an intermediate temperature solid
oxide fuel cell.
Dubey et al.6 studied the particle size dependent optical
band gap of Bi2 O3 QDs. In their research highest value
∗
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Email: sandeepwaghuley@sgbau.ac.in
Received: 27 August 2012
Accepted: 26 October 2012
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of optical band gap observed for smallest particle. Gondal
et al.7 reported the synthesis of bismuth oxide (Bi2 O3 )
nanostructured particles by pulsed laser ablation (PLA)
technique by irradiating solid bismuth target in 3% H2 O2
solution using 355 nm laser radiations generated by third
harmonic Nd:YAG laser.
The present work demonstrates the single step synthe-
sis of Bi2 O3 QDs through chemical route. The charac-
terization of QDs was done thorough UV-VIS analysis,
transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area
diffraction pattern (SADP).
2. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
The AR grade (SD fine, India) chemicals were used in this
investigation. The bismuth nitrate and hexamethylenete-
tramine (HMT) used for the preparation of Bi2 O3 QDs.
The 1 M-bismuth nitrate mixed with (1 M) HMT dissolved
in 30 ml water. The mixture stir with magnetic stirrer for
15 min. The prepared sample were first dried at room tem-
perature for over night and sintered at 100  C for 3 h.
Optical absorption studies were carried out using UV-VIS
spectrometer (Perkin Elmer). The TEM and SADP analy-
sis was done through JEOL 1200ex.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The UV-VIS analysis was carried out to know the optical
properties of Bi2 O3 QDs. The particle size was estimated
roughly from optical band gap value using hyperbolic band
model.8 The relation between optical band and radius is
shown in Eq. (1). The UV-VIS spectra of samples were

Adv. Sci. Eng. Med. 2013, Vol. 5, No. xx 2164-6627/2013/5/001/003 doi:10.1166/asem.2013.1309 1

 Synthesis and Characterization of Bismuth Oxide Quantum Dots
Fig. 1. UV-VIS spectra of Bi2 O3 QDs.
displayed in Figure 1. This analysis provides optical infor-
mation of synthesized materials. The optical band gap
determined for Bi2 O3 QDs from intensed absorption at
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∼ 260 nm found to be 3.44 eV.

Imaging a small dot through electron microscopy tech-
2 2 h2 Ebulk
R= (1)
m Enano
∗ 2 − Ebulk
2


where, R is quantum dot radius (2R is the diameter and
hence the average particle size) Ebulk is bulk band gap
(2.85 eV),6 Enano is band gap of nanomaterial (3.44 eV),
m∗ is effective mass of electron (m∗ = 2915 × 10−31 Kg
for Bi2 O3 QDs). The average particle size was found to be
9.44 nm.
The TEM images of Bi2 O3 QDs are provided in
Figure 2. The small amount of agglomerations is observed
in the micrographs. The average crystallite size observed
from TEM analysis was found to be ∼ 9 nm. This value
agrees with UV-VIS analysis of Bi2 O3 QDs through hyper-
bolic band model. The divergence in particle size from
both analysis may be due to the limitation of hyperbolic
band model i.e., particles strictly spherical.
Fig. 2. TEM image of Bi2 O3 QDs.
2 Adv. Sci. Eng. Med., 5, 1–3, 2013
Nemade and Waghuley
Fig. 3. SADP image of Bi2 O3 QDs.
The SADP of Bi2 O3 QDs displayed in Figure 3. This
dispersed and nearly spheroid with irregular shape. The
rings on the diffraction pattern depicted a principal planes
in Bi2 O3 QDs (020), (121), (031), (231), (300).
niques is not enough to say it is in quantum dots state.9
The optical absorption is a technique that allows one to
directly probe the band gap of QDs. The band gap edge
of a material should be blue shifted if the material is con-
fined. This blue-shifted spectrum confirmed the formation
of QDs. In our case, the intense absorption observed at
∼ 260 nm.
4. CONCLUSIONS
The synthesis of Bi2 O3 QDs through chemical route is a
simple and cost effective technique. The conformation of
QDs was done through TEM and UV-VIS analysis. The
partical size (9.44 nm) estimated from UV-VIS analysis is
very well agree with the TEM analysis. The divergence
in particle size from both analysis may be due to the
limitation of hyperbolic band model i.e., particles strictly
spherical. The strong confinement in Bi2 O3 QDs is also
confirmed from UV-VIS analysis. The principal planes in
Bi2 O3 QDs are observed to be (020), (121), (031), (231),
(300).
Acknowledgments: Authors are very much thankful to
Head, Department of Physics Sant Gadge Baba Amravati
University, Amravati for providing necessary facilities.
References and Notes
1. B. Arash and Q. Wang, Comput. Mater. Sci. 60, 245 (2012).
2. R. G. Dubey, K. R. Nemade, and S. A. Waghuley, Proc. Nat. Conf.
Laser and Advanced Materials (2012), p. 40.
3. Z. Liu and F. Yan, J. Am. Cer. Soc. 95, 1944 (2012).
Nemade and Waghuley Synthesis and Characterization of Bismuth Oxide Quantum Dots

4. P. A. Pawar, K. R. Nemade, and S. A. Waghuley, Proc. Nat. Conf.
Laser and Advanced Materials (2012), p. 160.
5. J. G. Lee, S. H. Kim, and H. H. Yoon, J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol.
11, 820 (2011).
6. R. G. Dubey, K. R. Nemade, and S. A. Waghuley, Sci. Revs. Chem.
Commun. 2, 436 (2012).
7. M. A. Gondal1, T. A. Saleh, and Q. Drmosh, Sci. Adv. Mater. 4, 507
(2012).
8. S. S. Nath, M. Choudhury, G. Gope, and R. K. Nath, J. Sens. Technol.
1, 86 (2011).
9. T. J. Bukowski, T. M. Neidt, R. Ochoa, and J. H. Simmons, J. Non-
Cryst. Solids 274, 87 (2000).

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