A General Solvothermal Route to the Synthesis of CoTe, Ag2Te/Ag, and CdTe Nanostructures with Varied Morphologies

A general and facile surfactant-assisted solvothermal route was developed for the synthesis of CoTe, Ag2Te/Ag, and CdTe nanostructures using the corresponding metal salt, Na2TeO3, ascorbic acid, and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) or cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) in mixed solvents of ethanolamine and water. It was also found that the morphology of the product varied dramatically when using different surfactants such as PVP and CTAB. A formation mechanism of telluride nanostructures was proposed. The products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetry (TG), and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analysis.