Bi^sub 2^SiO^sub 5^ nanosheets prepared by molten salt method

Bi^sub 2^SiO^sub 5^ nanosheets were successfully synthesized by the molten salt method in NaCl-Na^sub 2^SO^sub 4^ flux using Bi^sub 2^O3 and SiO2 as raw materials. XRD analysis and SEM observation show that the incorporation of salt medium can greatly lower the formation temperature of Bi^sub 2^SiO^sub 5^ phase, and promote their crystallization. The results also demonstrate that the mass ratio of salts to reactants, the reaction time, and the calcination temperature have significant effects on the phase formation and morphology of the Bi^sub 2^SiO^sub 5^ powders. The UV-vis spectra result shows that the absorption of the Bi^sub 2^SiO^sub 5^ powders located at 380 nm, and the corresponding band gap energy (Eg) calculated is 3.26 eV.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]