Hydrothermal synthesis of single-crystalline Bi2Te3 nanoplates

Novel Bi2Te3 nanoplates with about 0.2–1 μm in diagonal and 100 nm in thickness have been facilely synthesized via hydrothermal routes in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Various techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR) have been used to characterize the obtained products. The results show that the existence of PVP is vital to the formation of the plate-like morphology. Other factors, such as the reaction temperature and the different surfactants also have influence on the morphology of the final products to some extent.