Controlled morphogenesis and self-assembly of bismutite nanocrystals into three-dimensional nanostructures and their applications

We report the morphogenesis and self-assembly of bismutite nanocrystals with fully tunable morphologies from square plates, octagonal sheets, and round disks into three-dimensional hierarchical nanostructures. The results show that the nucleation, growth and self-assembly of bismutite nanocrystals strongly depend on the synergistic effect between hydroxide and citrate ions. The three-dimensional hierarchical nanostructures are formed through an oriented-attachment of bismutite nanocrystals along the 〈001〉 directions. The bismutite hierarchical nanostructures can be utilized for efficient and selective adsorption and separation. A novel surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy platform based on a bismutite/gold nanoparticles core-shell structure has been developed for ultrasensitive detection of aromatic molecules with a detection limit down to 1 nM.