Structures of Isolated Tellurium Chains Encapsulated Inside Carbon Nanotube

The structures of encapsulated Te chains in carbon nanotubes (Te@CNTs) were investigated using X-ray absorption fine structure analysis, including analyses of extended X-ray absorption fine structure and X-ray absorption near edge structure. The chains are encapsulated in CNTs as isolated chains. In the Te@CNT, the covalent bond length is 2.76 Å and the Einstein temperature is 200 K, which are 0.08 Å shorter and 43 K higher than those of trigonal Te (t-Te), respectively. These results imply that the covalent bond of Te@CNT is explicitly stronger than that of t-Te, which is caused by the interchain interaction resulting from the overlap between the lone-pair orbital and the antibonding orbital on the adjacent chain.