Synthesis of tellurium nanotubes by galvanic displacement

Tellurium nanotubes with controlled diameter and wall thickness were synthesized by galvanic displacement of cobalt nanowires and their temperature dependent field effect transistor and magnetoresistance properties were systematically investigated. The nanotube diameter was slightly larger than the sacrificial cobalt nanowire diameter with a wall thickness of range from 15 to 30 nm depending on the diameter of cobalt nanowires. Te nanotubes show p-type semiconducting property with the field effect carrier mobility of approx. 0.01 cm2/V s which is relatively lower than other 1D nanostructure. Low mobility might be attributed to porous morphology with small grain size (<10 nm). Temperature dependent mobility also exhibiting a Conwell–Weisskopf relationship to temperatures below 250 K, indicating that the dominant scattering sites are ionized impurity centers. Unique MR behavior was observed from nanotube with a maximum magnetoresistance ratio of 37% at 260 K.