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PEDOT:PSS film: a novel flexible organic electrode for facile electrodeposition of dendritic tellurium nanostructures

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Abstract

In the present study, flexible organic poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) films were employed as working electrodes for the facile electrodeposition of tellurium (Te). Dendritic Te nanostructures were successfully deposited at a current of 8 mA/cm2 for 700 s at 25 °C, using Na2TeO3 as the Te source and HNO3 as the electrolyte. The phase and morphology of the resulting dendritic nanostructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive spectrometry, and scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the deposition temperature had a remarkable influence on the morphologies of the samples. A certain concentration of HNO3 was indispensable in the formation of dendritic Te nanostructures. High deposition current density promoted the formation of dendritic Te nanostructures and the morphologies could be affected by the Na2TeO3 concentration. It is expected that flexible organic PEDOT:PSS film working electrodes may provide a facile and general method for synthesizing materials with a wide array of applications.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51303073 & 51203070), Jiangxi Provincial Department of Education (YC2013-S270 & GJJ13565), and Jiangxi Provincial Department of Science and Technology (20122BAB216011 & 20142BAB216032), Training Plan for the Main Subject of Academic Leaders of Jiangxi Province.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University, Nanchang, 330013, China

      Qinglin Jiang, Congcong Liu, Baoyang Lu, Jingkun Xu, Haijun Song, Hui Shi, Daize Mo, Zhipeng Wang, Fengxing Jiang & Zhengyou Zhu

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    1. Qinglin Jiang
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    2. Congcong Liu
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    3. Baoyang Lu
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    Correspondence to Jingkun Xu.

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    Qinglin Jiang and Congcong Liu have contributed equally to this work.

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    Jiang, Q., Liu, C., Lu, B. et al. PEDOT:PSS film: a novel flexible organic electrode for facile electrodeposition of dendritic tellurium nanostructures. J Mater Sci 50, 4813–4821 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-015-8818-2

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