Scalable polyol synthesis for few quintuple layer thin and ultra high aspect ratio Bi2Se3 structures

The production of topological insulator and thermoelectric nanostructures is mostly done with physical vapor deposition techniques. Because Bi2Se3 nanostructures are used in a variety of different disciplines in science, such as medicine, material science or condensed matter research, a simple synthesis with the possibility of a scale up is required. Here we report on a simple and cheap, chemical synthesis of 2D Bi2Se3 nanostructures with an ultra high aspect ratio of 103 and correspondingly high surface area to volume ratio of 0.4 nm−1. The size and stoichiometry of these nanostructures are adjustable. With one temperature, one precursor per element and a surfactant, we synthesize the nanostructures with an open or closed synthesis and analyze them with size histograms, TEM, EDX, SEM, Raman spectroscopy, and AFM. For the closed synthesis, our results show all four Raman peaks, the correct stoichiometry, and single crystallinity. The synthesis can be extended to make markers for cancer treatment, samples for the condensed matter research on the transport behavior of protected surface states or for thermoelectric applications.