A facile hydrothermal method for synthesis different morphologies of PbTe nanostructures

Various morphologies of PbTe nanostructures were synthesized via a simple hydrothermal reaction. The effect of presence different surfactants such as anionic, cationic, and polymeric on the morphology and purity of the products was investigated. Results show that the as-obtained PbTe nanostructures show a strong photoluminescence peak at 402 nm at room temperature; also optical absorption spectrum of PbTe nanostructures exhibit an extreme blue-shift, which is attributed to the quantum confinement of charge carriers in the nanostructures. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, UV–visible and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize the as-produced PbTe nanostructures.