Bismuth and its compounds have been used in various optoelectronic devices because of their unique physical properties and non-toxic nature. In this present study, nanocrystalline bismuth phosphate (BiPO4) was synthesized by solid-state double exchange reaction and then processed at 150 °C for 30 min under nitrogen gas flow. The phase, morphology, purity and band gap of the sample were analyzed respectively using x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive x-ray, Fourier transform infrared, Raman and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The obtained results reveal that the sample exists in hexagonal phase with crystallites in sub-spherical morphology (∼84 nm) and having a direct transition band gap of 4.52 eV. Furthermore, the x-ray attenuating nature of nanocrystalline BiPO4 thick film was examined using an intra-oral diagnostic x-ray machine interfaced with a Suniray-2 radiography image sensor. A theoretical validation of the obtained x-ray attenuating nature was carried out using the NIST-XCOM online resource. Then, x-ray-induced photocurrent was measured for nanocrystalline BiPO4 thick (200 µm) film for four different doses (mGy) exposed under biased condition (2 V). A grain boundary double Schottky potential barrier height (ϕb) model was applied to explain the observed linear dose-dependent x-ray sensing nature.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.