Self-assembly of nanoparticles to form tree-like tellurium nanostructures using novel starting reagents

•Tree-like Te nanostructures were synthesized via a novel and rapid thermal procedure.•TGA acts as both reducing and stabilizer agent for production of nanoparticles.•No secondary chemical reducing agent is required to proceed and complete the reaction.•A preliminary study on the possibility of developing a solar cell having FTO/TiO2/Te/Pt–FTO.

A new rapid and single step thermal method was successfully developed to synthesize tree-like tellurium (Te) nanostructures at mild condition. Te nanostructures were synthesized using tellurium tetrachloride (TeCl4) as a Te precursor and thioglycolic acid (TGA) as reducing and caping agent. No secondary chemical reducing agent is required to proceed and complete the reaction. A preliminary study on the possibility of developing a solar cell having the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)/TiO2/Te/Pt–FTO structure was also investigated to produce an inexpensive solar cell by Te nanostructures.