Facile Synthesis of Te and Ag<sub>2</sub>Te Microrods for Light-Activated Bending-Responsive Photodetectors

In this study, we report the synthesis of Te and Ag<sub>2</sub>Te micron-sized rods (MRs) via a controlled hot-injection-based quenching process, enabling the control of rod morphology and enhanced crystallinity. Structural analysis confirmed that the synthesized Te MRs exhibit a trigona...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hsueh-Shih Chen, Kapil Patidar, Pen-Ru Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Nanomaterials
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/15/15/1156
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Summary:In this study, we report the synthesis of Te and Ag<sub>2</sub>Te micron-sized rods (MRs) via a controlled hot-injection-based quenching process, enabling the control of rod morphology and enhanced crystallinity. Structural analysis confirmed that the synthesized Te MRs exhibit a trigonal phase, growing along the (110) direction, while Ag<sub>2</sub>Te MRs undergo a phase transformation into a monoclinic structure upon Ag doping. A simple and scalable photodetector (PD) was fabricated by drop-casting Te and Ag<sub>2</sub>Te MRs onto PET plastic films, followed by the application of Ag paste electrodes. The PD demonstrated room-light-induced photocurrent responses, which increased significantly upon mechanical bending due to the formation of additional conductive pathways between MRs. The Ag<sub>2</sub>Te-based bending sensor exhibited a fivefold enhancement in photocurrent compared to its Te counterpart and maintained high stability over 1000 bending cycles. These results highlight the potential of Te and Ag<sub>2</sub>Te MRs for use in flexible and wearable motion-sensing technologies, offering a simple yet effective approach for integrating 1D telluride nanostructures into scalable optoelectronic applications.
ISSN:2079-4991