Chemical Synthesis of Binary Solid Solution Bismuth–Antimony Nanoparticles with Control of Composition and Morphology

Abstract

Abstract Three chemical synthesis approaches were developed to obtain binary solid solution Bi–Sb nanoparticles (NP) with controllable compositions and sizes. In each synthesis approach, an array of Bi100−xSbx NPs with x ranging from 25 to 90 was synthesized via careful control of feeding ratios and synthetic conditions. The NP sizes can be varied from 30 to 60 nm for single-crystal NPs, and from 350 to 500 nm for polycrystal NPs. The synthesized Bi100−xSbx NPs can be used as thermoelectric materials or as seeds for growth of ternary solid solution Bi–Sb–Te NPs with different compositions.