Superlong high-quality tellurium nanotubes: Synthesis, characterization, and optical property

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 (TeO2) 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 mu m. 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.