Effect of nanostructuring on surface oxidation of bismuth telluride

In the present work, the simple and efficient wet chemical route is presented for the preparation of bismuth telluride nanostructures (nanoparticles, nanorods, and nanotubes). The temperature parameter was controlled to see the effect on the structure and morphology of the Bismuth Telluride. The structural, morphological, and oxide formation of Bismuth Telluride nanostructures were studied using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Micro-Raman spectroscopy respectively. The polycrystalline nature of Bismuth Telluride nanostructures was found from the X-ray diffraction studies. The XRD data reveals that Bismuth Telluride is present in two phases in these nanostructures. One corresponding to the Bi2Te3 phase which consists of Rhombohedral structure and another corresponding to the BiTe phase consisting of Hexagonal structure. The XRD pattern also shows the presence of the oxide phase which was further confirmed using Raman spectroscopy. The Morphological features showed that the nanostructures compose small crystallites. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.