Synthesis of α-MoTe₂ nanorods via annealing Te-seeded amorphous MoTe₂ particles

Semiconductor α-MoTe₂ nanorods have been synthesized by annealing Te-seeded particles of an amorphous MoTe₂ intermediate. This intermediate is prepared by a solution reaction between Mo(CO)₆ and elemental Te in diphenylmethane. The as-synthesized products were characterized by structural, compositional, and morphological techniques of X-ray diffraction, selected area electron diffraction, selected area energy dispersive spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The results of the annealing process are MoTe₂ nanorods with diameters of 50-200 nm and lengths ranging from 0.1 to 3.0 μm. Here, the rodlike structure of MoTe₂ is reported for the first time, and added to the list as one kind of new morphology of MoTe₂ nanomaterials. A mechanism for the formation of the nanorods is proposed. The sandwich-layered structure of Te-Mo-Te and the similarity in the structure between hexagonal α-MoTe₂ and hexagonal Te are responsible for the formation of nanorods of MoTe₂.