Synthesis and characterization of PbTe nanostructures in the presence of novel surfactants

• Nano-sized PbTe powders were prepared with the aid of Schiff-base compound.
• Hydrothermal method was employed to fabricate PbTe powders.
• The effect of preparation parameters on the morphology of PbTe was investigated.

For the first time, two novel surfactants base on the Schiff base compounds derived from 1,8-diamino-3,6-dioxaoctane, 2-hydroxyacetophenone, and salicylaldehyde were synthesized, characterized, and then used for the preparation of PbTe nanostructures. The surfactant synthesized by 1,8-diamino-3,6-dioxaoctane and 2-hydroxyacetophenone was marked as [(DaDo)-(2-HAP)]. Besides, the Schiff base derived from 1,8-diamino-3,6-dioxaoctane and salicylaldehyde was marked as [(DaDo)-(Sal)]. In addition, the effect of preparation parameters like reaction time and temperature in hydrothermal synthesis on the morphology of the PbTe nanostructures was tested in the presence of the surfactants. The products were analyzed with the aid of 1H NMR, SEM, XRD, FT-IR, and EDS. Based on the FT-IR and 1H NMR results, it was found that pure Schiff bases have been successfully synthesized by heating the starting reagents at 70 °C. According to the XRD results, it was found that pure cubic PbTe nanostructures have been obtained by this method.

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