Facile electrophoretic deposition of functionalized Bi2O3 nanoparticles

Abstract In this work, we prepared uniform Bi 2 O 3 nano-films through facile electrophoretic deposition (EPD) based on stable Bi 2 O 3 nanoparticle suspension. The suspension was obtained by ball-milling Bi 2 O 3 micro-particles in distilled water and employing paper-manufacturing waste sodium lignin sulfonate (MZS) as dispersant. The correlation between the stability of Bi 2 O 3 nanoparticle suspension and EPD parameters including electrostatic repulsion, steric hindrance, and attractive van der Waals force was investigated. The thickness of Bi 2 O 3 films was controlled by adjusting the voltage and time of EPD. This work opens up the opportunity for bismuth oxide nanoparticles to be assembled efficiently for various applications.