Amino Acids Controlled Growth of Shuttle-Like Scrolled Tellurium Nanotubes and Nanowires with Sharp Tips

Amino acids with different functionalities and structural conformation (serine, lysine, and histidine) show remarkable influence on the growth of trigonal tellurium by a hydrothermal reaction at 160 °C. A new kind of shuttle-like scrolled tellurium nanotubes with sharp and flexible tips (see figure) can be produced under control of serine. In contrast, the presence of lysine (or cystine, phenylalanine) and histidine results in the formation of superlong nanowires and dendritic crystals, respectively.