Good quality nanorods of Sb2S3 have been synthesized by a simple wet chemical method under refluxing conditions. In this, tartaric acid has been successfully used as a complexing agent to grow these single-crystalline nanorods at a comparatively much lower temperature (115 °C) than reported earlier (180−200 °C). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron diffraction (ED) studies showed that the rods correspond to the pure orthorhombic phase of Sb2S3, the phase purity of which is further confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A possible growth mechanism has been discussed on the basis of a series of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies of the product obtained at different durations. The effect of concentration of tartaric acid on the formation of Sb2S3 and its morphology has also been discussed. The morphology of the final product remained same for different sulfur sources used, though there is small change in dimension. The band gap was found to be 1.56 eV, suitable for photovoltaic applications.

Single crystalline Bi 2 S 3 nanorods have been synthesized by a tartaric acid-assisted hydrothermal route. The presence of tartaric acid is found to be essential for one-dimensional growth of the product. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern identified the product to be of orthorhombic phase and growth direction of the nanorods along the specific plane has been determined through a series of high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) studies that agrees well with the general direction of growth for one-dimensional (1D) nanomaterials. These nanorods have been subsequently coated with polypyrrole (PPy) for the first time in order to prepare a material with hybrid core-shell structure. The coating obtained is smooth in nature and uniform in thickness. The shell thickness could be changed by controlling the monomer concentration and varies linearly with monomer input. Raman spectra have been also used to characterize the PPy-coated nanorods.

The adsorption of dopamine (DA) on gold electrodes in aqueous sulfuric solutions of pH = 1 has been analyzed with the aid of in situ voltammetric and ellipsometric techniques. The initial stage of the process is the formation of an approximately 50-nm thick incipient hydrous gold oxide interface on the metal. Dopamine diffused into the incipient-oxide adlayer is weakly adsorbed. Significant variations of the pseudocapacity in the 0.6 < E < 0.9 V potential region were detected as a function of the adsorption time and of the gold surface state that was obtained when cycling the potential in sulfuric or perchloric solutions. The optical index and thickness of the incipient oxide were estimated.