Synthesis of single crystal Bi2Te3 nanoplates via an inorganic-surfactant-assisted solvothermal route

Single crystal Bi2Te3 nanoplates have been successfully obtained by a solvothermal method adopting a lamellar structure as the precursor. Various techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) have been used to characterize the obtained products. The results show that the as-synthesized samples are rhombohedral-structured Bi2Te3 single-crystal nanoplates, whose growth direction is perpendicular to c-axis. In addition, some important experiment parameters such as the water/ethanol volume ratio and pH value have been discussed.