Purification of tellurium by single-run multiple vacuum distillation technique

5N5 (99.9995%) purity Te was achieved by multiple distillation technique under a dynamic vacuum of ∼5 × 10−3 Torr using an exploratory setup made of quartz tube. The impurity analysis of the purified Te done by an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) confirmed the reduction of total impurity content from 87 to 4 ppm upon three successive distillations in a single experimental run. Major trace impurities in tellurium such as Al, Ag, Pb, Cu, Bi, Ni, Fe, Mn and Mg were reduced effectively. The analysis results are discussed with reference to vapour pressures (pv) of impurities. The evaporation rate (We) and mean free path (λ) are calculated under experimental conditions of vacuum level, distillation temperature (T) and system dimensions.