Fabrication of antimony telluride nanoparticles using a brief chemical synthetic process under atmospheric conditions

Antimony telluride (Sb2Te3) nanoparticles for thermoelectric applications were successfully prepared via a water-based chemical reaction under atmospheric conditions. In this process, we tried to prepare the nanostructured compound by employing both a complexing agent (l-tartaric acid) and a reducing agent (NaBH4) to stabilize the Sb precursor (SbCl3) in water and to favor the reaction with Te. It was observed that various products of Te, Sb2O3, and Sb2Te3 were individually or simultaneously generated depending on the amount of the complexing and reducing agents used. In order to obtain solely a rhombohedral Sb2Te3 compound, the aging time of the reaction needed to be adjusted.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideResearch highlights▶ A resulting sample exhibited the single Sb2Te3 rhombohedral structure (JCPDS card No. 71–0393). ▶ The sample was composed of nanoparticles under 100 nm with very narrow size distribution. ▶ It was confirmed that the sample was generated with the desired atomic composition between Sb and Te.