Antimony trisulfide (Sb₂S₃) nanorods were successfully synthesized via refluxing method, using antimony trichloride (SbCl₃), sulfur powders (S) and sodium borohydride (NaBH₄) as starting materials, 1,2-propanediol as solvent. The phase, morphologies, compositions and optical properties of the products were investigated by XRD, EDS, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, SAED and UV-Vis techniques. The sunlight was used as light source to investigate the photocatalytic activity of Sb₂S₃ nanorods for the degradation of methylene blue. The results show that the Sb₂S₃ nanorods with a single crystal structure can be obtained under refluxing at 186 ℃ for 15 h. The nanorods are typically 78～180 nm in diameter and 2～5 μm in length, and are orthorhombic phase with calculated cell parameters of a＝1.124 nm, b＝1.138 nm and c＝0.384 nm. UV-Vis analysis exhibits that Sb₂S₃ nanorods are a semiconductor with bandwidth E_g＝1.52 eV. Photocatalytic tests show that the as-prepared Sb₂S₃ nanorods have high photocatalytic degradation rate for methylene blue under sunlight, and the photocatalytic degradation rate of methylene blue is up to 84.31% after 20 min degradation, exhibiting obvious visible-light activity. PVP plays an important role in controlling the morphology of Sb₂S₃. In addition, the possible growth mechanism of Sb₂S₃ nanorods was also discussed.

Key words: antimony trisulfide, refluxing method, nanorod, photocatalysis