A chemical solution route to rapid synthesis of homogeneous Bi(100-x)Sb(x) alloys nanoparticles at room temperature.

A chemical co-reduction route in aqueous solution was developed to synthesize Bi(100-x)Sb(x) alloys at room temperature. The hydrolyses of Bi(III) and Sb(III) were effectively avoided by selecting proper raw materials and coordinator. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the as-prepared Bi(100-x)Sb(x) alloys were homogeneous and phase-pure, and the Bi/Sb ratios in the alloys were very close to those in the aqueous solutions. The transmission electron microscope observation showed that the as-prepared Bi(100-x)Sb(x) (x = 0-100) alloys were particles with a size of tens of nanometers. The selected area electron diffraction patterns confirmed the high crystallinity, the homogeneousness, and the composition controllability of as-prepared alloys. All these characters and the nanometer-scaled size of the alloys are believed to be beneficial to the thermoelectric property of the Bi(100-x)(x)Sb(x) alloys.