Synthesis of Uniform Te@Carbon-Rich Composite Nanocables with Photoluminescence Properties and Carbonaceous Nanofibers by the Hydrothermal Carbonization of Glucose

A hydrothermal carbonization route has been designed for the syntheses of uniform core−shell Te@carbon-rich composite nanocables with ultrathin and ultralong Te nanowires as the core component and carbonaceous matter with remarkable reactivity as the shell, using ultralong Te nanowires of several nanometers in diameter and glucose as starting materials. The results demonstrated that the presence of uniform Te nanowires can effectively restrain the usual homogeneous nucleation of carbon spheres from the bulk solution and instead promote the heterogeneous deposition of carbonaceous matter on the backbone of Te nanowires for the formation of well-defined Te@carbon-rich composite nanocables. The diameter of the Te@carbon-rich composite nanocables could be controlled by adjusting the hydrothermal carbonization reaction time or the ratio of the tellurium and glucose, and the shell thickness of the core−shell nanocables can be varied from 2 to 25 nm. Simply removing the Te nanowire core can produce well-defined ultralong and functionalized carbonaceous nanofibers. As-prepared Te@carbon-rich composite nanocables display a strong photoluminescence in the blue-violet region. These well-defined nanocables/nanofibers can be well dispersed in water or ethanol solution and are of high reactivity, making it possible to further engineer their surfaces or produce new hybrid materials with potential applications.