High yield syntheses of size-confined Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 nanocrystals and nanoflakes, and their alloys, were carried out by a facile glycol-mediated solvothermal process. Phase purity and good crystalline quality were achieved for all alloy compositions by this synthesis process. The isotropically and anisotropically shaped nanocrystals were obtained without using any capping molecule, template, or ligand. Plausible growth mechanisms have been proposed. Densification via spark plasma sintering allowed for dense bulk polycrystalline specimens with nonagglomerated nanograins. This work is of interest in the context of research toward enhancing the thermoelectric properties of these materials. The synthesis process may be modified and extended to design nanostructures of thermoelectric materials with related crystal structures.

Two kinds of Bi2Se3 nanostructures, 3D rose-like hierarchitectures and monodisperse nanospheres, have been synthesized through adjusting the supersaturation of the precursor solution. Noticeable hydrogen storage capacity, amounting to 185 mA h g-1, has been found for the 3D rose-like hierarchitectures, which arises from the special micro/nano-hierarchitectures with highly crystallized flake-substructures.

Nanostructured bismuth selenide thin films have been successfully fabricated on a silicon substrate at low temperature by rational design of the precursor solution. Bi(2)Se(3) thin films were constructed of coalesced lamella in the thickness of 50-80 nm. The nucleation and growth process of Bi(2)Se(3) thin films, as well as the influence of solution chemistry on the film structure were investigated in detail. As one of the most promising thermoelectric materials, the thermoelectric properties of the prepared Bi(2)Se(3) thin films were also investigated. The power factor increased with increasing carrier mobility, coming from the enlarged crystallites and enhanced coalesced structure, and reached 1 μW cm(-1) K(-1).