Liquid tellurides: structure and properties

In this paper, a review of the thermodynamic, electrical and structural properties of liquid alkali-tellurium alloys is presented with a special emphasis on the interplay between these properties. The thermodynamic properties indicate ordering of the solutions at compositions corresponding to about 12, 50, and 67 at.% of alkali atoms. The electrical conductivity and thermopower data confirm that these liquids are true semiconductors. The neutron diffraction patterns coupled with the above information indicate that in the case of liquid K0.12Te0.88 the measured structure is dominated by the TeTe contribution, and is remarkably similar to that of pure liquid tellurium, while the equiatomic alloy K0.50Te0.50 is shown to contain mostly Te pairs which are identified with Zintl ions, Te22−.