Tellurium metal

Tellurium metal rods are rods made of tellurium metal with typical properties of tellurium metal, such as a certain metallic luster, semiconductor properties, and play an important role in many fields, such as industry, electronics, and materials.

Properties

Appearance: Tellurium metal rods are generally silver-white in colour with a metallic lustre, but the surface may be darkened by oxidation after being left in the air for a period of time.

Crystal structure: There is a hexagonal crystal structure and the atoms are arranged in a spiral shape.

Density: The density of tellurium in crystalline form is about 6.25 g/cm3, which is relatively dense and makes tellurium rods feel heavy in the hand.

Hardness: With a hardness of 2.5 on the Mohs scale, tellurium is relatively soft and can be easily scratched or deformed during processing or use, so care needs to be taken to avoid collisions and friction during handling and storage.

Melting point and boiling point: melting point is 452℃, boiling point is 1390℃, the melting and boiling point is not too high, under certain temperature conditions, melting and gasification will occur.

Thermal and electrical conductivity: has a certain degree of thermal and electrical conductivity, in the electronics, semiconductor and other fields have certain applications, but the conductivity is relatively low, belongs to the category of semiconductor materials.

Reactivity: The chemical properties of Tellurium metal are similar to those of antimony, and it has certain reactivity. It can react with sulfuric acid, nitric acid, aqua regia, potassium cyanide, potassium hydroxide and other solutions. For example, tellurium can be dissolved in sulphuric acid to produce the corresponding sulphate.

Oxidation reaction: when burned in air, it will have a blue flame and generate tellurium dioxide. Under oxidising conditions, tellurium tends to lose its outer electrons to form compounds in the Te (IV) or Te (VI) valence states.

Reactions with halogens: Tellurium reacts with halogens to form the corresponding halides. For example, tellurium chlorides are formed by reacting with chlorine.

Stability: Tellurium metal rods are chemically stable at room temperature and pressure, but can react chemically under certain conditions, such as high temperatures and strong acids and bases.

Applications

Semiconductor field:

Thin film preparation: used in processes such as chemical vapour deposition (CVD) and physical vapour deposition (PVD) to prepare semiconductor thin films. For example, in the manufacture of some electronic components, the electrical properties of the components can be improved by depositing tellurium-containing films. Tellurium can play a role in regulating the energy band structure and increasing the carrier concentration in semiconductor thin films, which is very crucial for the manufacture of high-performance semiconductor devices such as transistors and integrated circuits.

Infrared detector materials: Highly pure Tellurium metal can be used to make infrared detector materials because tellurium has unique optical and electrical properties in the infrared band that enable it to absorb and convert infrared radiation with high efficiency, thus enabling the detector to accurately detect infrared signals.

Metallurgical industry:

Improvement of cutting properties: In the smelting of metals such as steel and copper, the addition of small amounts of tellurium improves the cutting and machining properties of the metal, making it easier for the metal to be machined into a variety of shapes and sizes.

Carbide stabiliser: In white cast iron, tellurium is used as a carbide stabiliser, which can make the surface of the cast iron stronger and more wear-resistant, improving the service life and performance of the cast iron.

Chemical industry:

Catalyst: Tellurium can be used as an additive to catalysts for chemical reactions such as oil cracking and the production of ethylene glycol, which can improve the activity and selectivity of the catalyst and accelerate the chemical reaction.

Rubber vulcanising agent: it can be used as a vulcanising agent for rubber to form a cross-linking structure between rubber molecules, which improves the rubber’s properties such as strength, hardness, abrasion resistance and heat resistance.

Energy field:

Temperature difference power generation materials: high purity tellurium can be used as an alloy component of temperature difference power generation materials for the manufacture of temperature difference power generation devices. Temperature difference power generation is a technology that uses the thermoelectric effect of materials at different temperatures to convert heat energy directly into electricity, in which tellurium plays an important role.

Solar cell materials: tellurium and its compounds are also used as key material components in the research and development of a number of new types of solar cells, capable of improving the photoelectric conversion efficiency of solar cells.

Other applications:

Glass colourants: tellurium oxides can be used as glass colourants, which can give glass specific colours and optical properties, e.g. tellurium oxide can give glass a white or light yellow colour.

Manufacture of special alloys: It is used to manufacture some special alloys, such as tellurium-copper alloys. Tellurium-copper alloys have good electrical and thermal conductivity and cutting and processing performance, and are widely used in electronic and electrical appliances, machinery manufacturing and other fields.