Alumina template-assisted growth of bismuth selenide nanowire arrays

An aqueous solution has been developed to synthesize densely packed nanowire (nw) arrays of Bi3Se2 and Bi2Se3 or almost pure phase of Bi2Se3 within the pores of an alumina template by alternating current (ac) deposition protocol. Structural, morphological and optical properties exhibited by nw arrays before and after annealing in vacuum at 250 °C for 3 h have been studied ex situ for several nw compositions and different ordering degree. Typical cyclic voltammograms recorded in situ in the developed solutions for various electrodes are also presented and discussed. The as-grown and annealed products were characterized by XRD, EDX, WDX, FE-SEM and SEM.