Solvothermal synthesis of porous tellurium nanotubes

Based on a solvothermal synthesis with N,N-dimethylformamide used as solvent and porous silicon as growth assistant, porous tellurium nanotubes with width of 100–400 nm and length up nearly to 40 μm were synthesized on a large scale. Of interest is that the porous tellurium nanotubes looks like lotus-roots with a few inner fibrilliform tubes parallel to each other. The formation mechanism of the tellurium nanotubes could be expressed as a dissolution–crystallization process. When the reaction duration was prolonged, single nanotubes with column morphology formed. Our results illustrate that the formation of tellurium nanotubes could be well controlled with appropriate template and reaction duration.