Towards bulk syntheses of nanomaterials: a homeostatically supersaturated synthesis of polymer-like Bi2S3 nanowires with nearly 100% yield and no injection

This paper reports the implementation of a one-pot strategy for the synthesis of polymer-like Bi2S3 nanowires from supersaturated precursors. These conditions result in (i) a homeostatically regulated supersaturation of the growing phase during most of the reaction, (ii) a nearly 100% conversion of the limiting reagent, and (iii) an improved colloidal stability and polydispersity of the product (when compared to the hot-injection product) that allows the identification of three new exciton transitions in the absorption spectrum (one of them, importantly, being a weakly absorbing ground state at 1.64 eV). Three different commercial sources of ligands do not yield significantly different conversion rates. Scalability is further improved by lack of stirring after the initial stage of reaction and a lower reaction temperature (90 degrees C).