Large-Scale Synthesis of Flower-like Te with Uniform Branches by a Surfactant-Assisted Method.doc

Large-Scale Synthesis of Flower-like Te with Uniform Branches by a Surfactant-Assisted Method Xingbao Wang ?Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: xingbaowang@126.com. Fax: +86 518 Tel: +86 518 Xinhai Senior High School, Lianyungang, Jiangsu, China 222006; ABSTRACT Flower-like tellurium with uniform branches was 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 structure of the branch of flower-like Te was grown along the (001) crystal plane. Furthermore, the Raman spectrum of the flower-like tellurium with uniform branches was studied. The result shows that the flower-like Te has three characteristic peaks. This study provides a simple method to prepare three-dimensional Te microstructure 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 investigated [4]. For the fabrication of such superstructures, the employment of appropriate organic ligand or surfactant is generally necess