Photochemical synthesis of bismuth selenide nanocrystals in an aqueous micellar solution.

The photolytic decomposition of triphenylbismuth and di-tert-butyl diselenide under aqueous micellar conditions yields 5-nm bismuth selenide nanocrystals of the BiSe stoichiometry. This is the first example of the bismuth-rich BiSe phase being prepared in a well-dispersed colloidal nanocrystal form.