Nanostructuring of materials is an effective way to lower the thermal conductivity. A novel supercritical/near-critical water approach was developed for the fabrication of Bi2Te3 nanoparticles. The method provides a rapid, "green" and large scale synthesis of nanoparticles with uniform particle sizes, and the production can be scaled up for commercial production. The synthesis temperature and the pH condition were studied for the synthesis of Bi2Te3. It is found the formation mechanisms are different when the NaOH concentration is changed in the solution. The method may be applied for preparing nanoparticles of other metals and intermetallic compounds. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.