Exploring the Electronic Tunability of Transition Metals Intercalated Bi₂Te₃ Nanoplates

Thermoelectric materials are a potential solution to minimizing waste heat in our society. The material focused on for this study, Bi₂Te₃, is the current state-of-the-art room–temperature thermoelectric material, and doping this material has shown an increase in the thermoelectric unit of merit. Intercalation of transition metals into Bi₂Te₃ provides a new way to design and modify the electric properties. Here, I intercalate Mn and Cu into two-dimensional nanoplates of Bi₂Te₃ while additionally systematically testing to see if other first-row transition metals (Ti, V, Cr, Co, Ni, and Zn) can be intercalated in this manner. These materials are synthesized by a one-pot intercalation route via the polyol synthetic method with characterization utilizing PXRD, SEM/EDS, and SAED via TEM. Creating this synthetic technique to intercalate transition metals into 2D materials would continue to push the field forward, and ultimately work towards producing a high <i>zT</i> thermoelectric material.