| Bismuth telluride and tellurium rich bismuth telluride wires of diameters of 35, 55, 73, and 200 nm and lengths of up to 50 microns were synthesized through constant current electrochemical deposition for thermoelectric applications. Aqueous solutions with pH values of 0.5 and 1, and -0.1 and -0.5 mA currents were used in a design of experiments matrix for electrodeposition into templates with 200 nm diameter pores and approximately 1 cm2 surface area. Analysis of variance showed that the change in current had the greatest effect on the growth rates of the 200 nm diameter wires. Qualitative composition characterization indicates that the -0.5 mA current setting and pH 1 solutions lead to higher tellurium concentrations in the wires, and a similar trend was also found to be true for the 35, 55, and 73 nm nanowire runs. In probe measurements, wires from each set of deposition conditions demonstrated n-type behavior. |
