revised4-DDN.doc

Large-Scale Synthesis of Flower-like Te Nanocrystals with Uniform Branches by a Surfactant-Assisted Method Xingbao Wang a,(, and Weipeng Guan b,* a Xinhai Senior High School, Lianyungang, Jiangsu, China 222006; b Zhejiang Great Southeast Plastic Group Corp., Zhuji, Zhejiang, China 311809 ABSTRACT Flower-like tellurium nanocrystals with uniform branches were successfully prepared in large quantities by a surfactant-assisted method. The product was characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), transmission electronic microscopy (TEM), selected area electronic diffraction (SAED) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The characterization results revealed that the branch of flower-like Te was grown along [001] direction. Furthermore, the Raman spectrum of the flower-like tellurium with uniform branches was studied. The result shows that the flower-like Te exhibits three typical vibration peaks. This study provides a simple method to prepare three-dimensional Te nanostructures in large scale, which broads their practical applications. Keywords: Tellurium; Semiconductors; Microstructure; Morphology; Surfactant-assisted 1. Introduction In past decades, two- or three-dimensional nanostructures have been the focus of current research on micro-/nanomaterials because properties and applications of the materials are dependent on the spatial arrangement and orientation of the nanocrystals [1-2]. To date, synthesis of complex micro/nanostructures, including fractal patterns, dendrites, and other hierarchical structures, has attracted great attention because studies on these hyperbranched structures are useful to fabricate electronic or photonic nanodevices [3]. Recently, many effective methods of synthesizing functional materials with complex three-dimensional nanostructures have been developed [4]. However, in most case, for the fabrication of such superstructures, the employment of appropriate organic ligand or surfacta