Influence of Synthesis Conditions on the Characteristics of Antimony Sulfoiodide

In this paper, a semiconductor ferroelectric antimony sulfoiodide with photocatalytic activity was obtained using an optimized hydrothermal method. The influence of the precursors, time and temperature of hydrothermal treatment was studied. As a result, phases differing in purity, length and shape of particles were obtained. The sample, aged for 2 h, contained a significant number of impurities in the form of antimony sulfide. Samples, aged for 4 and 5 h, had noticeably fewer impurities. The phases, obtained after 6, 10 and 24-h exposure, had a sufficiently large yield and well-formed long rods. The results of X-ray phase analysis showed the presence of the target phase in all cases, while the longer the synthesis time, the better the crystallization of the SbSI rods. The results of scanning electron microscopy showed that the particles have the shape of a rod, which consists of smaller needles, and with increasing synthesis time their length increases. The needles thickness varies from one to several tens of microns. The study of photocatalytic properties has shown that the rods exhibit mild photocatalytic activity, compared to powder materials, which is consistent with theoretical concepts.