A simple energy-saving aqueous synthesis of Bi2Te3 nanocomposites yielding relatively high thermoelectric power factors

We discover a simple scalable (10 g scale for one batch in this study) route of synthesizing Bi2Te3 nano-composites in aqueous solution with high yield at room temperature without involving any organic chemicals, capping agents, and surfactants. It is conceivable that the formation mechanism involves interaction between elemental Bi and Te, which takes place at a very slow rate and takes about 2 weeks to form Bi2Te3. Heat treatment of Bi2Te3 nanocomposite yields a single phase of Bi2Te3 with the relatively high power factor of 24.2 mu W/cm.K-2 at 425 K compared to other solution methods.