A general route for the rapid synthesis of one-dimensional nanostructured single-crystal Te, Se and Se–Te alloys directly from Te or/and Se powders

Abstract

A general and template-free 'disproportionation and reversal' route was developed to synthesize one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures of Te, Se and Se-Te alloys directly from Te or/and Se powders. The products were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Te nanorods and nanowires with a width varying from about 40 nm to about 300 nm, Se nanowires with a width of 60-100 nm and a length of 4-6 µm, and SexTe100-x alloy nanorods with x in a wide range, and with a width of 30-70 nm and an aspect ratio of three to five, were prepared. The mechanism of formation of the nanorods and nanowires and the effects of the experimental conditions, such as solution concentration, cooling rate, solvent nature and heating process, on the morphology and size of the products have been discussed. We believe that this general route and some other proper reversible processes between solid state and solution state can be extended to the transformations from various bulk materials into nanosized materials with various morphologies.

Aerobic microbial manufacture of nanoscale selenium: exploiting nature’s bio-nanomineralization potential

“…4a). The development of Se nanorods in the presence of simple organic solvents has been observed before (Takahashi et al 2006;Zhou and Zhu 2006;Gates et al 2002b), although the size of the crystal clusters and the time taken for transformation of red nanospheres to black crystalline nanorods (within 60 min) are exceptional in this case. In previous investigations, the nucleation of the t-Se nanorods appeared to occur on hexagonal platelets, which here may have be either neo-formed t-Se or an intermediate monoclinic phase (Miyata et al 1978;Mayers et al 2001;Gates et al 2002b;Peled and Hadziioannou 1991).…”

“…The nature of the chain structure parallel to the 001 c-axis direction in t-Se results in one dimensional growth of Se and favors the acicular crystal development seen here. Preferential growth is expected from crystals orientated along the c-axis and the formation of the relatively large radiating rosettes suggests restricted development of t-Se nuclei (Zhang et al 2003;Zhou and Zhu 2006).…”

“…It is the great potential of nano-scale Se(0) phases in electronic, optical, catalytic and medical application that has led to extensive investigations of the production and post-preparative modification of these materials by various inorganic routes (Pearce et al 2008;Takahashi et al 2006;Zhou and Zhu 2006). These include, solid-solution-solid transformation from amorphous Se (a-Se) colloids to t-Se nanowires (Gates et al 2000(Gates et al , 2002a and sonochemistry based synthesis and transformation of a-Se to t-Se nanowires (Gates et al 2002b).…”

Rapid Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Single-Crystalline Sb2Te3 Hexagonal Nanoplates

“…First, Te indeed can disproportion in alkali medium as discussed previously. 21,22 And in this synthesis of Sb 2 Te 3 , a special purple color, the characteristic color of Te 2-was observed in the solution, indicating the disproportionation of Te. Second, alkali can accelerate the reaction greatly.…”

Bioreduction of selenite and tellurite by Phanerochaete chrysosporium

“…A black coloration of the fungal pellets treated with TeO3 2-(Figure 7.2) was indicative of the reduction of TeO3 2to Te 0 . Se:Te incubations also presented a black coloration, which could be indicative of the presence of Te 0 , although Se-Te alloys have also been characterized by a black color (Zhou and Zhu, 2006). No sign of red-orange coloration, indicative of the presence of Se 0 , was observed in the fungal biomass of Se:Te incubations (Figure 7.2), even when pellets were dissected to search for evidence of coloration in the core of the fungal pellet.…”