Biomolecule-assisted reduction in the synthesis of single-crystalline tellurium nanowires

A biomolecule-assisted reduction method for the synthesis of single-crystalline tellurium nanowires was analyzed under hydrothermal conditions. Alginic acid was used as a biomolecule, which is a straight-chain polyuronic acid, made up of β-D-mannuronic and α-L-guluronic acid residues. The tellurium nanowires, including composition, morphology, and size were obtained by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was observed that commercial H₂TeO₄ could be reduced to form single-crystalline tellurium nanowires using alginic acid as reducing agent. The results show that the method increases the applicability of biomolecules in synthesis of nanostructures with low dimensionality.