Flower-like morphological trigonal tellurium (t-te): A simple Wet-Chemical preparation approach to obtain semiconducting material

Abstract

Flower-like microstructured trigonal tellurium (t-Te) was prepared by a simple solution-based strategy with the reaction of 1,2,3,4,5-pentamethylcyclopentadiene (HCp*) and TeCl4 in tetrahydrofuran (THF) under reflux condition. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron microscopy techniques confirmed the phase purity and morphology of the synthesized sample. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis provides evidence for forming elemental Te, viz, Te (0). Also, XPS analysis indicates the presence of a higher oxidation state, i.e., Te(IV), which may be due to the formation of an ultrathin layer of TeO2 on the surface of the elemental t-Te microstructure. According to the synthetic strategy, higher oxidation is due to the surface oxidation of Te (0) to Te(IV) while washing the sample. Additionally, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) technique further supports the presence of Te–O bonds on the surface of t-Te. The semiconducting behavior of the prepared elemental t-Te microstructure was confirmed by obtaining a positive Hall coefficient (RH) value of 4.98 × 103 cm3 C−1. In addition, the resistivity (conductivity) value, i.e., 1.05 × 102 Ω cm (9.52 × 10−4 Ω−1 cm−1) is calculated using Hall-effect measurement.

Keywords

• Tellurium
• Microstructure
• Semiconductor
• Wet-chemical
• Resistivity
• Conductivity