Superlong High-Quality Tellurium Nanotubes: Synthesis, Characterization, and Optical Property

Abstract

Single-crystalline trigonal tellurium (t-Te) nanotubes with sloping cross-section and hexagonal cross-section can be selectively synthesized on a large scale by a simple solvothermal reduction route, using tellurium dioxide (TeO 2) as tellurium source and ethylene glycol (EG) as both a reducing agent and a solvent in the presence of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and cellulose acetate (CA), respectively. The individual Te nanotubes with cylindrical morphology and open ends have outer diameters of 100–500 nm, wall thicknesses of 50–100 nm, and lengths of 150–200 µm. Both kinds of Te nanotubes grow along the [001] direction and have excellent crystallinity. The optical properties and the stability in ethanol of the t-Te nanotubes with sloping cross section have been investigated.