Thermal Stability and Anisotropic Sublimation of Two-Dimensional Colloidal Bi(2)Te(3) and Bi(2)Se(3) Nanocrystals

[Image: see text] The structural and compositional stabilities of two-dimensional (2D) Bi(2)Te(3) and Bi(2)Se(3) nanocrystals, produced by both colloidal synthesis and by liquid phase exfoliation, were studied by in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) during annealing at temperatures between 350 and 500 °C. The sublimation process induced by annealing is structurally and chemically anisotropic and takes place through the preferential dismantling of the prismatic {011̅0} type planes, and through the preferential sublimation of Te (or Se). The observed anisotropic sublimation is independent of the method of nanocrystal’s synthesis, their morphology, or the presence of surfactant molecules on the nanocrystals surface. A thickness-dependent depression in the sublimation point has been observed with nanocrystals thinner than about 15 nm. The Bi(2)Se(3) nanocrystals were found to sublimate below 280 °C, while the Bi(2)Te(3) ones sublimated at temperatures between 350 and 450 °C, depending on their thickness, under the vacuum conditions in the TEM column. Density functional theory calculations confirm that the sublimation of the prismatic {011̅0} facets is more energetically favorable. Within the level of modeling employed, the sublimation occurs at a rate about 700 times faster than the sublimation of the {0001} planes at the annealing temperatures used in this work. This supports the distinctly anisotropic mechanisms of both sublimation and growth of Bi(2)Te(3) and Bi(2)Se(3) nanocrystals, known to preferentially adopt a 2D morphology. The anisotropic sublimation behavior is in agreement with the intrinsic anisotropy in the surface free energy brought about by the crystal structure of Bi(2)Te(3) or Bi(2)Se(3).