Using anodic aluminum oxide templates and electrochemical method to deposit BiSbTe-based thermoelectric nanowires

In this study, the cyclic voltammetry method was first used to find the reduced voltages and anodic peaks of Bi 3+ , Sb 3+ , and Te 4+ ions as the judgments for the growth of the (Bi,Sb) 2 - x Te 3 + x -based materials. Ethylene glycol (C 2 H 6 O 2 ) was used as a solvent, and 0.3 M potassium iodide (KI) was used to improve the conductivity of the solution. Two different electrolyte formulas were first used: (a) 0.01 M Bi(NO 3 ) 3 -5H 2 O, 0.01 M SbCl 3 , and 0.01 M TeCl 4 and (b) 0.015 M Bi(NO 3 ) 3 -5H 2 O, 0.005 M SbCl 3 , and 0.0075 M TeCl 4 . The potentiostatic deposition process was first used to find the effect of reduced voltage on the variation of compositions of the (Bi,Sb) 2 - x Te 3 + x -based materials. After finding the better reduced voltage, 0.01 M Bi(NO 3 ) 3 -5H 2 O, 0.01 M SbCl 3 , and 0.01 M TeCl 4 were used as the electrolyte formula. The pulse deposition process was successfully used to control the composition of the (Bi,Sb) 2 - x Te 3 + x -based materials and grow the nanowires in anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates.