Bismuth Telluride (Bi2Te3) Nanostructure for Thermoelectric Applications

The bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) nanostructure is the most commonly used in thermoelectric (TE) applications. The different processes are utilized to produce the Bi2Te3 nanostructure. Herein, the used process is an efficient and cost effective two-step co-precipitation chemical solution route. The process has been formed by dissolving the bismuth (III) nitrate pentahydrate, Bi(NO3)3.5H2O and tellurium dioxide, TeO2 into the same inorganic nitric acid, HNO3 with the two-step co-precipitation of sodium hydroxide, NaOH and sodium borohydride, HNaB4. The characterizing tools such as x-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet absorbance (UV), fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive analysis of x-ray (EDAX), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to produce the Bi2Te3 powders. According to these results, the obtained powders have been confirmed as a nanostructure form of about low dimension that can be easily used in TE applications