Bismuth telluride nanostructures: preparation, thermoelectric properties and topological insulating effect

Bismuth telluride is known to wield unique properties for a wide range of device applications. However, as devices migrate to the nanometer scale, significant amount of studies are being conducted to keep up with the rapidly growing nanotechnological field. Bi2Te3 possesses distinctive properties at the nanometer level from its bulk material. Therefore, varying synthesis and characterization techniques are being employed for the realization of various Bi2Te3 nanostructures in the past years. A considerable number of these works have aimed at improving the thermoelectric (TE) figure-of-merit (ZT) of the Bi2Te3 nanostructures and drawing from their topological insulating properties. This paper reviews the various Bi2Te3 and Bi2Te3-based nanostructures realized via theoretical and experimental procedures. The study probes the preparation techniques, TE properties and the topological insulating effects of 0D, 1D, 2D and Bi2Te3 nanocomposites. With several applications as a topological insulator (TI), the topological insulating effect of the Bi2Te3 is reviewed in detail with the time reversal symmetry (TRS) and surface state spins which characterize TIs. Schematics and preparation methods for the various nanostructural dimensions are accordingly categorized.