• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.3405-3410
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• 2011

We have investigated the cytotoxic potential of tellurium (Te) nanowires in BALB/3T3 fibroblast cells. Te nanowires were synthesized through an aqueous phase surfactant assisted method. Toxicological experiments, such as analysis of morphological changes, MTT assay, DAPI staining, and estimation of intracellular reactive oxygen species, were carried out to reveal the cytotoxic effects of Te nanowires. Te nanowires were found to be cytotoxic at all concentrations tested, in a dose-dependent manner. The UV/Vis spectra of Te nanowires suspended in a culture medium showed drastic changes and disappearance of two broad absorption peaks. The physicochemical properties such as, surface charge, size, and shape of Te nanowires were found to be altered during exposure of cells, due to the instability and agglomeration of nanowires in the culture medium. These results suggest that the chemical components of the DMEM medium significantly affect the stability of Te nanowires. In addition, TEM images revealed that necrosis was the basic pattern of cell death, which might stem from the formation of toxic moieties of tellurium, released from nanowire structures, in the bioenvironment. These observations thus suggest that Te nanomaterials may pose potential risks to environmental and human health.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.1082-1085
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• 2012

CdTe nanoribbons feature their unique optical properties compared with CdTe nanoparticles. Slow oxidation of tellurium ions on CdTe nanoparticles resulted in the organization of individual nanoparticle into nanoribbons. The light-controlled self-assembly of CdTe nanoparticles led to twisted ribbons. It was found that irradiation improved the oxidation of tellurium ions. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were performed to characterize the synthesized nanostructures and showed nanowires were twisted after self-assembly. The photoluminescence was slightly blue-shifted from 550 to 544 nm. This synthetic procedure could potentially provide a key step toward the fabrication of nanowires.

• Journal of Institute of Convergence Technology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.51-54
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• 2013

Cadmium telluride(CdTe) nanowires were successfully synthesized from individual nanoparticles via self-assembly and the evolutionary process was investigated. The oxidation of tellurium ions on CdTe nanoparticles resulted in the organization of individual nanoparticle into twisted-nanoribbons. The nanoparticles self-assembled to twisted ribbons under light while nanoparticles under dark transformed to straight nanowires made of several layers of individual nanoparticles. The images of nanoribbons were analysed based on transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The photoluminescence was blue-shifted from 555 to 545nm.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.580-580
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• 2012

Heterostructures has unique and important properties, which may be helpful for finding many potential applications in the field of electronic, thermoelectric, and optoelectronic devices. We synthesized CdTe/Te core-shell heterostructures by vapor-solid process at low temperatures using a quartz tube furnace. Two step vapor-solid processes were employed. First, various tellurium structures such as nanowires, nanorods, nanoneedles, microtubes and microrods were synthesized under various deposition conditions. These tellurium nanostructures were then used as substrates in the second step to synthesize the CdTe/Te core-shell heterostructures. Using this method, various sizes, shapes and types of CdTe/Te core-shell structures were fabricated under a range of conditions. These structures were analysed by scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. The vapor phase process at low temperatures appears to be an efficient method for producing a variety of Cd/Te hetero-nanostructures. In addition, the hetero-nanostructures can be tailored to the needs of specific applications by deliberately controlling the synthetic parameters.