Sulfur-free synthesis of size tunable rickardite (Cu3- x Te2) spheroids and planar squares

Guanwei Jia; Chengduo Wang; Peixu Yang; Jinhui Liu; Weidong Zhang; Rongbin Li; Shaojun Zhang; Jiang Du

doi:10.1098/rsos.181602

Sulfur-free synthesis of size tunable rickardite (Cu_{3- x} Te₂) spheroids and planar squares

R Soc Open Sci. 2019 Feb 13;6(2):181602. doi: 10.1098/rsos.181602. eCollection 2019 Feb.

Authors

Guanwei Jia^{1

2}, Chengduo Wang¹, Peixu Yang¹, Jinhui Liu¹, Weidong Zhang¹, Rongbin Li³, Shaojun Zhang¹, Jiang Du^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Henan Province Industrial Technology Research Institute of Resources and Materials, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, People's Republic of China.
² School of Physics and Electronics, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, People's Republic of China.
³ School of metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas Materials Institute, Center for Nano- and Molecular Science and Technology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.

Abstract

We report a novel synthesis of monodisperse samples of copper telluride with crystallinity and stoichiometry corresponding to forms of rickardite, Cu_3-x Te₂ (x < 1). This synthesis makes use of a ligand balanced reaction to allow control over shape and size by varying the relative and absolute concentration of oleylamine to stearic acid. The rickardite samples presented here display size dependent plasmon peaks in the near infrared and direct energy band gaps between 1.7 and 2.3 eV. As such they may find utility in photovoltaic, thermoelectric or as novel optical materials for study of surface plasmons.

Keywords: Cu3−xTe2; nanocrystals; spheroids and planar squares; sulfur-free synthesis.